‘What a player he is… whenever somebody comes near him, he just deals with it!’: Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher rave about ‘Player of the Year shoo-in’ Virgil van Dijk for performance in Merseyside derby Virgil van Dijk was at heart of Liverpool defence for 0-0 against Everton In disappointing result for Reds Dutch defender stood out for the visitors He earned plenty of praise from Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher in studio By Will Griffee For Mailonline Published: 18:37 GMT, 3 March 2019 | Updated: 18:38 GMT, 3 March 2019 Viewcomments Liverpool suffered a disappointing draw in the Merseyside derby but Virgil van Dijk again stood out for the Reds. In the stalemate at Goodison Park, the Dutch central defender was a rock for the Reds and earned plenty of praise from Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher on Sky Sports. Neville said: 'What a player he is, whenever somebody comes near him, he just deals with it.' Virgil van Dijk produced a dominant display in Liverpool's stalemate at Goodison Park Jamie Carragher (left) and Gary Neville (right) heaped praise on the centre-back And Carragher, who marshalled the Liverpool defence in the same position for so many years, went one step further. He believes the former Southampton and Celtic defender should be an obvious choice for individual awards at the end of the season. 'Van Dijk is well in the running, if not a shoo-in for Player of the Year', he added. Liverpool passed up the opportunity to go two points clear of Manchester City at the top of the Premier League after passing up a number of good chances at Goodison Park. Van Dijk has been a rock at the back for Liverpool and again played superbly well After the game, Van Dijk reflected: 'Of course I think we deserved three points, it says a lot that in the end they're celebrating a 0-0. 'We had a chance to finish them off. I like these kind of games but we came for three points and we didn't get it. 'The next game is next week and that is the only focus now. We can't change not being top at the moment.' Share or comment on this article: All rights reserved for this news site dailymail and under his responsibility