If Trent Alexander-Arnold leaves for Real Madrid, he should have every Liverpool fan’s blessing. But one of their out-of-contract trio is the test the club must not fail, writes OLIVER HOLT

Perhaps it might be considered unusual to single out a defender for special praise in the aftermath of a match where his team were so dominant that the opponent did not muster its first shot on target until the 82nd minute.

But that, nevertheless, was the instinct that remained after Liverpool overwhelmed Manchester City at Anfield on Sunday and increased their lead at the top of the Premier League to nine points.

There were outstanding individual performances all over the pitch but the best and most imperious of them all came from Liverpool’s captain and central defender, Virgil van Dijk. If Mo Salah is the team’s Ferrari, Van Dijk is its Rolls-Royce.

In the hurly-burly of a breathless game that Liverpool dominated, Van Dijk was so good that he looked as if he were playing in slow-motion. He reads the game so adroitly that he senses danger at its inception and snuffs it out before it has a chance to develop.

Sometimes, he makes the game look too easy. And if he had reason to be grateful to Caoimhin Kelleher for a late save after he had had gift-wrapped a chance for Kevin De Bruyne, it only served to emphasise how effortless his dominance had been until then.

It is worth pointing out, too, that Van Dijk was playing against Erling Haaland on Sunday and that the Liverpool defence he commanded was shorn both of its number one goalkeeper, Alisson, and Ibrahima Konate, who has been superb as Van Dijk’s partner at the heart of the back four.

If Mo Salah, the Reds’ attacking star, is this Liverpool team’s Ferrari, Van Dijk is its Rolls-Royce

In the second half, one moment stood out where Van Dijk brushed Haaland aside in a rare attack

Haaland can have games where he barely touches the ball. We all know that. But we also know that he often scores in those games. For all City’s woes this season, Haaland still sits atop the Premier League goalscoring chart with 12 strikes.

Van Dijk left him nothing. He made him anonymous. In Haaland’s impotence, one moment stood out. Midway through the second half, Haaland made a lightning burst behind Liverpool’s defence and Manuel Akanji hoisted a pass into his path.

Haaland sensed a rare opportunity, the kind he often feeds off, the kind that makes lesser defenders panic, the kind where Haaland sows confusion and pounces. Not this time. Van Dijk matched his sprint and took the ball down calmly and beautifully with one touch, turning away with it as if it were a matter of routine.

All of which brings us to the reality that Van Dijk’s contract is up at the end of this season and that, so far, he and Liverpool have not agreed a new one. All of which also brings us to the conclusion that Liverpool must keep him if they want to ensure continuity of success.

Everyone knows the situation the club is in. All their success this season has been accompanied by worry about the fact that Van Dijk, Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold will all be free agents in the summer.

All three have been playing like a dream under new manager Arne Slot. Alexander-Arnold is the best passer of the ball in the Premier League. Many, me included, believe that he is also the most naturally talented player in the English game.

Salah has been the league’s best forward this season. He is one of the greats of English football and bears comparison with the legends of Liverpool, even with forwards as exalted as Kenny Dalglish and Ian Rush, Robbie Fowler and Michael Owen. He is very much in their company.

And then there is Van Dijk, who, at 33, is the oldest of them all but is playing better than he has ever played before and whose leadership qualities have made him more and more indispensable to the club he has graced for seven years.

He is 33 but playing better than he has ever played before and remains a standout defender

Trent Alexander-Arnold (left) could leave for Real Madrid, while Salah’s (right) future is unclear

Salah and Van Dijk are two of Liverpool’s most important players but their futures are uncertain

Alexander-Arnold, meanwhile, has won all there is to win at his boyhood club and could depart

No one knows quite how their futures will play out but here’s one scenario: Alexander-Arnold, who has won everything there is to win with his boyhood club, will move to Real Madrid where he can test himself with the world’s biggest club. If that happens, he should go with the blessing of every Liverpool fan.

Salah, who will be 33 in the summer, will be allowed to leave. There is a banner in the Kop that is displayed at every home game which says ‘He fires a bow, now give Mo his dough’ but, of course, it is not quite that simple.

It is easy to say ‘give him what he wants’ for every player but Liverpool are run by smart people, not least Michael Edwards, FSG’s chief executive of football, and they may decide they cannot compete with what the Saudi league is willing to pay Salah at a time when his numbers will start to decline.

Some things don’t tally. Those of us who admired and understood the weekend protests about rising ticket prices also worry that if a club pays over-inflated wages for players, it will pass on some of those costs to fans.

Which leaves us with Van Dijk. Liverpool cannot afford to lose all three of their marquee players and even though their skipper is not in the first flush of youth, people like Edwards are also smart enough to know the value that he represents to the club that goes beyond statistics.

There is no evidence of decline in the club captain. In fact, the evidence is that, after his recovery from the serious knee injury he sustained in a Merseyside derby in October 2020, Van Dijk has been getting better and better every year.

He is now back to the player he was before that injury with the added benefit of more experience. He cannot play forever but there is every likelihood he can remain one of the best centre halves in the league for the next three years.

In that time, he can not only lead the team but he can help to bring through outstanding young talents like Jarell Quansah, who has the promise and the ability to be Van Dijk’s long-term successor.

In the midst of all their current success, Liverpool face three different tests over their three best players. Keeping Van Dijk is the one test they must not fail.

Liverpool can’t afford to lose all three players, and Salah has made a public plea to stay

Van Dijk continues to get better every year and could remain at the top level for next three years

His experience is also vital and he could help with the progression of Jarell Quansah (pictured)

Tennis’ reputation on the way down

The minor reprimands handed out to Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek in the wake of failed drug tests have caused untold damage to the reputation of modern tennis.

On one level, their paltry punishments have made it look as though there is one rule for the best players and another for the journeymen. On another level, their treatment has forfeited tennis’ right to be viewed as a clean sport.

As both cycling and athletics have discovered to their cost, once the public stops believing what it is seeing, a sport is in deep, deep trouble.

Reprimands handed out to the likes of Jannik Sinner (pictured) after a failed drug test have caused damage to tennis’ reputation

The abandonment of FA Cup replays robbed both Harborough Town (pictured) and Kettering Town of a place in the third round draw

Abandonment of replays still a great shame

My love of the FA Cup will be forever rooted in the exploits of the Wimbledon team during the 1974-75 season when they were still a non-league side.

Chief among those memories was the game when they held the mighty Leeds United to a draw in the fourth round, forcing the game to a replay. I realise this is ancient history now, 50 years ago, but the abolition of replays by the FA is a sore that keeps on weeping.

In previous years, both Harborough Town and Kettering Town, who lost in extra time against league opposition on Sunday, would have found themselves in the third round draw on Monday evening. Instead, the thrill and the motivation of that prospect have been lost.

The FA should have protected the competition at all costs. Instead, it is watching it being killed by degrees.