With Alisson back between the sticks for Liverpool, they looked far more comfortable in games against Sheffield United and FC Midtjylland.
The Reds were without the Brazilian for four games and conceded nine goals as Adrian took over the gloves while his teammate was injured.
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The loss of Virgil van Dijk, who suffered and anterior cruciate ligament injury in the Merseyside derby, on October 17, then compounded the issue.
Many have felt losing the Dutchman, who has been magnificent since joining from Southampton in 2018, could possibly end their bid to retain the Premier League.
But, now Alisson has returned, the Reds seem far more confident and that has led to talkSPORT host Tony Cascarino querying if Van Dijk is really as influential as we might think.
Ahead of their match with West Ham on GameDay, where you can hear live commentary of the clash at 5:30pm, he told the Weekend Sports Breakfast: “I said a couple of weeks ago on this that I was dreading having Adrian in goal, as a Liverpool fan.
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“Adrian is not in there [now], Alisson is and they are a lot more assured. I thought they showed that against Sheffield United.
“Is he more pivotal than [Virgil] van Dijk? Look he’s a great centre-half. He’s one of the greatest but not the greatest centre-halves in world football. He’s certainly one of them.
“So would you put Alisson ahead of him in terms of importance for Liverpool?”
It’s an interesting theory, and one which we will find out a lot more about as the season progresses with Dutchman Van Dijk sidelined for the entirety of the campaign.
You can listen to live and exclusive commentary of Liverpool v West Ham at 5:30pm, live on talkSPORT
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