Van Dijk vs Varane: Comparing the prime stats of Liverpool and Man Utd stars

Virgil van Dijk is one of the Premier League's greatest ever centre-backs.

Even amongst his wobblier moments with Liverpool this season, Van Dijk feels as though he's being inordinately criticised just because his performances aren't quite hitting the world-class standard that we've come to expect from him.

Whether that's fair or not is for you to decide, but the moral of the story is that Van Dijk will always struggle to replicate the stunning form that he showed across the 2018/19 season.

Prime Van Dijk and comparisons in football

Whenever we come to write articles on Van Dijk's prime, it's the year that we always come back to because it saw the Dutchman win the Champions League, finish second in the Ballon d'Or and go an entire club season without being dribbled past.

Yes, he was world-class the follow campaign too as he lifted the Premier League trophy, but running Lionel Messi so, so close in the Ballon d'Or voting will always stand out as his zenith.

As such, it's always been the standard that we've used for Van Dijk when it comes to comparing him to other iconic centre-backs such as Nemanja Vidic and Sergio Ramos.

After all, such has been the meteoric rise of Van Dijk since his move to Liverpool that it's only natural that fans have asked the question: is he better than this player and that player?

Love it or loath it, that entire complex has become part of the wider football culture with Messi constantly compared to Cristiano Ronaldo just as Erling Haaland will no doubt always be contrasted against Kylian Mbappe.

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What about Van Dijk vs Varane?

But hey, it's fun to have these conversations if they're conducted in a friendly manner and we're inclined to think that there's one comparison with Van Dijk which has flown under the radar.

We are, of course, talking about Mr. Raphael Varane.

Now, obviously, it goes without saying that Varane hasn't been on Van Dijk's level since he's moved to Manchester United as he's had to contend with one of the most tumultuous eras in the club's history.

However, there is a very legitimate conversation to be had in regards to Varane's time at Real Madrid where he undoubtedly established himself as one of the leading centre-halves of the 21st century.

What is Varane's greatest ever season?

So, in the spirit of our previous head-to-heads pitting prime Van Dijk against peak Vidic and Ramos, we've decided to test out the exact same premise but with Varane at the top of his game.

And although there are plenty of stunning seasons from his Real catalogue that you could pick out as his finest, we're inclined to think that the 2017/18 campaign is the one that represents Varane's best challenge to 2018/19 Van Dijk.

Named in the UEFA Team of the Year and Champions League Squad of the Season, Varane made his second-highest total of appearances in a campaign for Real as he played 44 times on the way to a third consecutive European Cup.

Chuck in the fact that he then went onto win the World Cup with France in the summer as well as then finishing seventh in the Ballon d'Or rankings and it's fair to say that 2017/18 marks Varane's peak so far.

Soccer Football - Champions League Quarter Final Second Leg - Real Madrid vs Juventus - Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain - April 11, 2018 Real Madrid's Raphael Varane in action with Juventus' Blaise Matuidi REUTERS/Susana Vera

Comparing Varane and Van Dijk's prime stats

Right then, let's whip out WhoScored's player comparison tool to see how prime Varane compares to peak Van Dijk in an unexpected, but nevertheless fascinating match-up between Liverpool and United's premier centre-backs.

Up first, let's have a look at their data in the Premier League and La Liga respectively...

Van Dijk and Varane's league team-play stats.

Then, let's take a peek at their Champions League output...

Who had better stats in their prime season?

Well, well, well, it looks like Van Dijk takes the victory - and by quite some distance.

You've got to say that it's a very fair comparison too because not only are the statistics done per game, but both players' teams won the Champions League and not the league in the two seasons being assessed.

Look, Varane definitely has his moments against the Liverpool juggernaut throughout our analysis, but you've got to concede that it's Van Dijk who comes out swinging with the more impressive numbers.

From a league perspective, the Reds star committed fewer fouls, made more blocks and clearances, registered more goals and assists, was dispossessed less often, produced fewer bad controls, played more long balls and passes generally as well as never being dribbled past.

Don't get it twisted, there are key wins for Varane too, but Van Dijk's edge is illustrated by the fact that his average match rating of 7.44 was significantly better than his French rival's 6.85.

But what about the Champions League? Well, Varane's defensive data does suddenly look a lot better as he averages more tackles, interceptions, clearances and blocks while also keeping fouls down.

However, when Van Dijk still comes out with a marginally better average match rating as well as stronger offensive and team-play numbers, then even this area of strength for Varane can't win the overall battle.

In other words, the data suggests that prime Van Dijk gets the better of peak Varane, but let's face it, that's like saying a Porsche is no good because it's not a Ferrari, so it's hardly an insult to anyone.

They will, after all, both rightfully go down as two of the best defenders and players of our era.