Watch: Virgil van Dijk clears the ball with cheeky backwards header

Liverpool romped to a 5-0 victory at Watford on Saturday afternoon with another sensational solo goal from Mohamed Salah taking the headlines – but our attention was drawn to a piece of unorthodox defending from Virgil van Dijk. 

Liverpool travelled to Vicarage Road knowing that victory would return them to the top of the Premier League – for a few hours at least.

And goals from Salah, Sadio Mane and a hat-trick from Roberto Firmino ensured Jurgen Klopp’s side strolled to victory.

Van Dijk had a quiet afternoon as Watford demonstrated why many believe they’ll succumb to relegation this season, but needed to improvise in order to remove the ball from danger in the first half.

Watford forward Emmanuel Dennis attempted to chase after a long pass but Van Dijk positioned himself between the opponent and the ball.

With Dennis breathing down his neck, the Netherlands international allowed the ball to hit him on the back of the head before turning around and passing to a team-mate.

So easy. So cool.

So cool from Van Dijk 🥶 pic.twitter.com/Gg7y1fpkwd

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) October 16, 2021

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