Liverpool centre-back Virgil van Dijk has named former Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud as his toughest opponent.

Van Dijk told Gary Neville’s Overlap: “Funnily enough, Giroud. I feel like I got him but in some way he always manages to score.

“Whether it’s with Arsenal, Chelsea, France and I’m like… I said to him when we won the league we actually won 5-2, we were 3-0 up or something, and he scored a scrappy goal.

“I can’t remember exactly, I think it hit the crossbar and fell down a scrappy goal I said to him ‘you scored again’ I would say he is the guy who scores against me and just an annoying person.

“There are so many fantastic strikers. Messi, Aguero, Haaland is a difficult one because he has everything. Giroud is a bogeyman. Annoying.”