15:43, 15 Nov 2025<\/p>\n
![\"Liam](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/0_GettyImages-2245192885.jpg\")
Liam Delap ruled out Virgil van Dijk when discussing the toughest defenders(Image: Aziz Karimov)<\/p>\n
Chelsea<\/a> striker Liam Delap<\/a> has overlooked Liverpool<\/a> captain Virgil van Dijk<\/a> when naming his toughest opponent, instead selecting Nottingham Forest<\/a> defender Murillo<\/a>.<\/p>\n The former Ipswich forward dismissed choosing the Dutchman as a ‘stereotypical answer’, opting for the Brazilian centre-back instead.<\/p>\n The 23-year-old has established himself as one of the Premier League’s<\/a> most highly-rated defenders following his pivotal role in Forest’s impressive campaign last season.<\/p>\n With Murillo marshalling the defence, Nuno Espirito Santo steered the City Ground outfit into European competition, ending their absence from competing alongside the continent’s elite clubs.<\/p>\n It represents an unusual snub for Van Dijk, who has become widely recognised as one of the modern era’s finest defenders in England’s top division.<\/p>\n The 34-year-old has been discussed alongside Premier League<\/a> legends such as Rio Ferdinand and John Terry, yet the Chelsea forward doesn’t consider him the most challenging opponent he’s encountered.<\/p>\n “You know who I really like? Murillo, at Forest,” said Delap. “I have [played against Van Dijk], but I think that’s the stereotypical answer. Obviously he’s top, but I really like Murillo.”<\/p>\n Murillo has been linked as a potential defensive recruit for several of the Premier League’s traditional powerhouses, including Liverpool and Chelsea. The commanding defender has been forthright when addressing speculation about joining some of the division’s biggest sides.<\/p>\n In previous comments, he acknowledged the prospect of representing clubs such as Manchester United<\/a>, City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal<\/a>.<\/p>\n He said: “I had the dream of playing in the Premier League and I had that thought. I thought: ‘I’ll go to Nottingham Forest, have a good year and then I’ll go to a big club’. I had that in my head.<\/p>\n “I’d choose Manchester City but it would be more difficult for me to be a regular starter given the players they have in their squad.<\/p>\n “There’s City, Arsenal as well, who are fighting for the Premier League title. I wouldn’t discard Liverpool either, it would be a good opportunity for me to show my football in a big club.”<\/p>\n Rio Ferdinand recently found himself in an awkward position during a lie detector test when asked whether he considered Van Dijk a superior defender to himself.<\/p>\n The former Manchester United centre-back answered ‘No’ to the question, but the polygraph suggested he may not have been entirely truthful, leaving the Old Trafford legend visibly uncomfortable.<\/p>\n For the latest news and breaking news, visit liverpoolecho.co.uk\/all-about\/liverpool-fc<\/a>. Get all the big headlines, pictures, analysis, opinion and video on the stories that matter to you.<\/p>\n Follow us on Twitter<\/a> @\u200cLivEchoLFC<\/strong> – the official Liverpool ECHO LFC Twitter account – for all the latest LFC news as it happens in real time.<\/p>\n We’re also on Facebook<\/a>\/LiverpoolEchoLFC – your must-see LFC news, features, videos and pictures throughout the day from the Liverpool ECHO.<\/p>\n Listen to our podcasts by searching for ‘Blood Red’ wherever you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n Sign up for one of the Liverpool Echo’s free daily and weekly newsletters on Liverpool FC<\/a> by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Chelsea striker Liam Delap has named the toughest opponent he has faced, snubbing Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":572323,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8815],"tags":[6167,10234,748,6274,393,4884,179,763,1596,1036,423,22139,15038,16,15,1465],"class_list":{"0":"post-572322","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-liverpool","8":"tag-arsenal-fc","9":"tag-barclays-premier-league","10":"tag-britain","11":"tag-chelsea-fc","12":"tag-england","13":"tag-great-britain","14":"tag-liverpool","15":"tag-liverpool-fc","16":"tag-liverpool-fc-transfer-news","17":"tag-manchester-city-fc","18":"tag-manchester-united-fc","19":"tag-nottingham-forest-fc","20":"tag-rio-ferdinand","21":"tag-uk","22":"tag-united-kingdom","23":"tag-virgil-van-dijk"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115554563419951808","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/572322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=572322"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/572322\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/572323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=572322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=572322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=572322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Virgil](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/2_GettyImages-2245477623.jpg\")
Virgil van Dijk has been labelled one of the greatest defenders in Premier League history(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n