Imperious Virgil van Dijk reminds Liverpool what they’ll be missing if he leaves Anfield at the end of his contract, writes IAN LADYMAN

As the match clock ticked over in to its 97th minute – deep into that dark realm where so many Premier League goals seem to be scored these days – Arsenal pushed forward one last time. 

The home team had threatened from wide positions all afternoon and here they were again, asking questions of Liverpool‘s defensive credibility. The cross was decent but the header that propelled the ball far from danger was even better and once again it came from Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk.

Earlier on in this frenetic, absorbing game, Van Dijk had appeared on pretty much the same spot to head his team level from a corner. But this, the ugly stuff, was what he does so well so often. Sensing danger, squaring up to danger, dealing with danger.

He is 33-years-old now, Van Dijk. It is almost seven years since he joined Liverpool from Southampton and this may well be his final season at Anfield. 

For all the promising signs of early life under new manager Arne Slot, the thought of Van Dijk leaving is a sobering one. This developing and slowly evolving Liverpool team is not ready for that, not yet.

Van Dijk led from the front and equalised for the Reds with a header when they were 1-0 down 

It is almost seven years now since van Dijk, 33, joined Liverpool from Southampton for £75m

Here in north London, Van Dijk was everything he has always been. A defender who reads the game naturally and seemingly without effort, Van Dijk remains athletic and mobile. 

Not quite as quick as he once was – why should he be? – but still nimble enough and without doubt fleeter of thought than most of those around him at an increasingly fevered Emirates Stadium.

At the end, when a valuable point had been secured and Liverpool’s momentum maintained, Van Dijk ambled over to wave to his team’s travelling supporters and then turned to be met by two men who know exactly what he is and what he does.

Joe Gomez was first to embrace him. The former England defender was once Van Dijk’s partner, until injuries knocked him from his stride. 

Then it was young Jarell Quansah, good enough to make England’s pre-Euro 2024 squad and indeed to start the opening game of this league season at Ipswich. Not currently good enough to get a game, though. From Quansah, it was a high five handshake and an arm round the shoulder.

Respect between team-mates, respect from those who, frankly, would like to be a little of what Van Dijk continues to be. A leader, someone to look up to and, on occasions like this, someone to simply stand back and admire.

Van Dijk is back to where he was before injury struck him down in a Merseyside derby some years back. He is back to that imperious level where opponents never really believe they will get by him and where team-mates will be dragged forwards in his thrall. 

Ibrahima Konate, his current partner for Liverpool, now looks twice the player he ever has previously for the club. Part of that is down to Van Dijk’s influence, for sure.

For all the promising signs under Arne Slot , the thought of Van Dijk leaving is a sobering one

Joe Gomez was first to embrace him. He was once Van Dijk’s partner, until injuries knocked him

Then it was young Jarell Quansah, who will have learnt so much playing alongside van Dijk

There has been much talk this season about Van Dijk’s contract situation. Like Mo Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold, his current deal expires at the end of this season and the possibility of the three of them leaving next June hangs heavy over Anfield. 

Slot looks like he has the measure of life as Jurgen Klopp’s successor. We are a quarter of the way into the league season and Slot has Liverpool ahead of Arsenal and on Manchester City’s shoulder. Nobody really expected that.

Take away Van Dijk, Salah and Alexander-Arnold, however, and it’s a very different team, a very different season. The fact that Van Dijk has now broken ranks to say he is in discussion with the club about a prolonged stay is a comfort of the crumbs variety but some kind of comfort all the same.

And if Van Dijk is waiting and watching then who can blame him? He has won everything there is to win at Liverpool and has been integral to every bit of it. It would appear at the moment as though as he is waiting to see which way Liverpool travel under Slot before committing himself one way or another. 

He looks to have three years at least left in him at this level and will not be short of offers on a free transfer. As such, the direction that Liverpool move in over the coming weeks remains fundamental not only to what happens this season but also to how the club’s short to mid-term future looks too.

Slot’s team were resilient enough, here. They didn’t play consistently well but came from behind twice and that speaks volumes. They continue to lack control against the best teams. That was evident at home to Chelsea eight days ago – though they won – and indeed here. 

It’s a missing piece in the Slot jigsaw, something that is causing them to score too often on the break rather than on the back of sustained pressure. Liverpool are, in truth, a midfield player of elite standing short of where they perhaps need to be.

Arsenal scared them, here, especially in the first half. Liverpool’s full-backs Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson didn’t cope well against Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka and that lent the visiting team a vulnerable air on occasion.

They were better in the second half, though. They moved the ball better and sensed some waning confidence in their opponents. When Salah scored from a move that Alexander-Arnold initiated, it had been coming.

Ibrahima Konate, van Dijk’s partner, looks twice the player he ever has previously for the club

Alongside Mohamed Salah and Alexander-Arnold, van Dijk’s contract situation needs urgency 

Salah and Alexander-Arnold had been fleetingly impressive until that point while Van Dijk was consistently so. He said in a TV interview afterwards that he was enjoying his football and there is evidence of that aplenty on the field.

In terms of his future, he has his foot on the proverbial ball. It’s hard to imagine his agent’s ‘phone lying silent. As long as he plays like his, Van Dijk holds the whip hand. It’s a deeply uncomfortable situation for Slot and his club to be in. 

As they endeavour to shape and mould a post-Klopp version of Liverpool, they need Van Dijk at the heart of it for a while longer.