Former St Johnstone striker Graham Cummins describes the demoralising day he was marked by then Celtic centre-half Virgil van Dijk.

Taking his lead from Jurgen Klopp and club captain Jordan Henderson, Van Dijk refuses to countenance the question of ‘when?’ preferring to preface such talk with ‘if’ about the title lift

The Irish international centre-half is seated in front of the dictaphone, reeling in the years.

There was still tension in the air at Anfield — but now they believe, writes Chris Hatherall.

Could Liverpool become the new Invincibles?

A year to the day since Liverpool last tasted defeat, in a reverse to Manchester City that effectively cost them the league title, Mohamed Salah helped ensure his team remained firmly on course to put that matter right in 2020.

With the 2019/20 Premier League now just past its halfway point and a busy Christmas programme almost done, it’s time to hand out some imaginary mid-season awards.

These are the standout quotes from the world of punditry in 2019...

Liverpool have won the Club World Cup, beating Flamengo 1-0 after extra-time in Doha.

It is the Barcelona players sixth time winning the award.

Five and a half years ago, then-Preston striker Graham Cummins and his wife woke to officers from Britain's National Crime Agency hammering at their front door.

Liverpool finally laid one of the Champions League’s more bizarre statistical shortcomings to rest, but it was the performance of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain that will have most pleased manager Jurgen Klopp.

With only 10 weeks remaining in the year, Liverpool go to Old Trafford tomorrow knowing they have never had a better opportunity to finally complete Operation 20:19.

It is a record sixth time that the Argentina star has been named FIFA’s best player.

Liverpool began the defence of their Champions League crown on a losing note as Dries Mertens’ penalty and Fernando Llorente’s injury-time strike handed Napoli a 2-0 victory.

Statistics don’t always tell the whole story but David Luiz has a right to point to them when he turns up at Anfield with new club Arsenal still being billed as the Premier League’s defensive comedy routine up against the country’s best centre-back, Virgil van Dijk.

Chris Hatherall (pic) Shane Duffy has insisted there will be no ill-feeling or uncomfortableness when he faces former Republic teammate Declan Rice in the Premier League today, focusing instead on taking his own career to the next level.

Jurgen Klopp spent the summer preaching the need to jump out of the blocks with the reflexes of an Olympic sprinter when the new Premier League season kicked off against newly-promoted Norwich at Anfield.

Last season’s top two look set to dominate but there’ll be plenty of thrills and spills along the way. There’ll also be plenty of betting opportunities and these five wagers should help keep punters engaged throughout the season.

Neil Lennon has warned Celtic will not be pushovers in any Kieran Tierney transfer after rejecting a second bid from Arsenal.

Deep into this summer like no other for in-demand Luca Connell, the green of Ireland rather than Celtic constitutes his main attraction.

The age of Spain, bookended by two Liverpool triumphs. After the miracle of Istanbul in 2005, Barcelona and Real Madrid won the European Cup in eight of the next 13 seasons.

A “lesson in efficiency”, is how Hugo Lloris described Liverpool’s win over Tottenham in Madrid, and while the Frenchman cannot be sure if he will play in another Champions League final, he maintains Spurs are learning all the time.

Things we learned from Saturday's Champions League final.

The day Jurgen Klopp walked into his first Liverpool press conference, in 2015, he prophetically claimed he would be sitting in the same seat four years later with at least ‘a title’,

There are two distinct types of difficult games to watch, depending on your preference.

Liverpool's final performance never hit the heights of earlier in the competition, but few Reds fans will care after an early Mo Salah penalty and late Divock Origi strike saw Tottenham beaten 2-0 in Saturday evening’s far from classico Champions League final at the Wanda Metropolitano stadium in Madrid.

Lost, amid the sublime composure of £75 million Virgil van Dijk, the fan-pleasing marauding runs of full-backs Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson and the promise of Joe Gomez, stands Joel Matip, the forgotten centre-half who may have as big a say in tomorrow’s Champions League Final as any Liverpool star.

Daniel Storey hands out the end of season awards.

Liverpool are through to the Champions League final after beating Barcelona 4-0 in the semi-final second leg at Anfield to win 4-3 on aggregate.

Colossus. Giant. Leader. Legend. However hard you try to find the words to describe Vincent Kompany, they don’t seem to be enough.

Luis Suarez led the way and Lionel Messi added the killer blows as Barcelona battled to a 3-0 victory in last night’s Champions League semi-final first leg at the Camp Nou.

It’s been interesting to see the way Barca have managed their Champions League away fixtures this season because not all their matches have proved to be end-to-end goal feasts.

Roberto Firmino’s absence from Liverpool’s starting line-up forced an alteration to the Premier League side’s usual shape.

Virgil Van Dijk has dismissed talk of winning the Ballon d’Or and insists he is fully focused on attempting to shackle “out of this world” Lionel Messi in the Champions League.

Manchester City forward Raheem Sterling has been hailed as an “inspiration” to young players after being voted the 2019 Footballer of the Year by the Football Writers’ Association.

The PFA Team of the Season was dominated by Manchester City and Liverpool players (plus Paul Pogba). But Daniel Storey's selection spreads the recognition a shade wider.

As the embers of the Manchester derby begin to cool, Manchester United legend Roy Keane is leading calls for his former club to buy an entire new defence this summer to ensure that being second best doesn’t enter United’s DNA for good.

Jurgen Klopp is closing in on an historic season for Liverpool, as he again steered his side into the semi-finals of the Champions League. Only this time he returns to Premier League action this weekend top of the table and in a position to make a mockery of the fantastical claims surrounding Pep Guardiola brilliant Manchester City side.

All eyes might be on Liverpool and Manchester because of the two horse nature of the Premier League title race but the also-rans from London could yet prove pivotal to the outcome.

Phil Babb has paid Virgil van Dijk a high compliment by comparing him favourably to Paul McGrath.