"Today he showed again" - Van Dijk on Firmino's performance against Bournemouth

Liverpool centre-back Virgil van Dijk has praised Reds forward Roberto Firmino for his performance against Bournemouth at Anfield last Saturday.

The Brazilian scored two goals and registered three assists during the club's 9-0 victory over the Cherries.

Post-game, Van Dijk said that Firmino showed why he is a top-class player.

As quoted by Anfield Watch on Twitter, he told The Independent the following: “We know the quality he has and we never doubt him. It’s how you deal with everything around from the outside world.

“For him and the whole team, it’s not taking anything from people who don’t have influence over our performance. In this case, we know what we can have from him and he showed it again today.

“Obviously he wants to win, when we don’t win he’s angry and when we win he’s happy. That’s how it should be. He wants to perform in the best way possible because he has the quality. Today he showed again why he is a world-class player.”

Anfield Watch Verdict

Firmino has been a fine servant for Liverpool. The forward has found the back of the net 100 times and secured 77 assists in 331 appearances for the club's first-team.

However, Firmino has struggled in the early parts of the season. The Brazilian had no impact against Fulham or Manchester United.

So, it was good to see Firmino get some reward for effort against Bournemouth. He looked back to his best. Hopefully the 30-year-old can kick on and propel Liverpool forward.

But, only time will tell if that is to be the case. We wish Firmino all the best for the remainder of the campaign.