Cardiff City boss Neil Warnock has joked that he must have been drunk when he claimed that Bluebirds centre-back Sol Bamba was a better defender than Liverpool’s Virgil Van Dijk.
Holland captain Van Dijk has proven himself to be one of the top centre-backs in Europe since he joined the Reds from Southampton in a £75 million transfer last January.
Last year Warnock said: “I think Sol Bamba is slightly better than Van Dijk, defensive wise.”
Warnock was of course reminded of what he had said ahead of his side’s trip to Anfield tomorrow, but the experienced coach was quick to make light of his previous comments.
“I think I’d been drinking. What I meant was that if Van Dijk was in our team, you’d see if he was a good defender,” Warnock said at his pre-match press conference.
Cardiff got their first win of the Premier League season last weekend against fellow newly-promoted side Fulham, although they face a massive task to come away from Anfield with any points on Saturday as they face Jurgen Klopp’s unbeaten Liverpool side.