If Trent Alexander-Arnold leaves for Real Madrid, he should have every Liverpool fan’s blessing. But one of their out-of-contract trio is the test the club must not fail, writes OLIVER HOLT

Perhaps it can be considered unusual to give special praise to a defender in the aftermath of a match in which his team was so dominant that the opponent did not make its first shot on target until the 82nd minute.

But that was nonetheless the instinct that remained after Liverpool overwhelmed Manchester City at Anfield on Sunday to extend their lead at the top of the Premier League to nine points.

There were excellent individual performances all over the pitch, but the best and most imperious of all came from Liverpool captain and centre-back Virgil van Dijk. If Mo Salah is the Ferrari of the team, Van Dijk is the Rolls-Royce.

In the hustle and bustle of a breathless match that Liverpool dominated, Van Dijk was so good it was as if he was playing in slow motion. He reads the game so deftly that he senses danger from the start and snuffs it out before it has a chance to develop.

Sometimes he makes the game look too easy. And while he already had reason to be grateful to Caoimhin Kelleher for his late save after gift-wrapping a chance for Kevin De Bruyne, it only emphasized how effortless his dominance had been up to that point.

It’s also worth pointing out that Van Dijk played against Erling Haaland on Sunday and the Liverpool defense he led was stripped of both its number one goalkeeper, Alisson, and Ibrahima Konate, who was excellent as Van Dijk’s partner at the club. heart of the back four.

Haaland can play games where he barely touches the ball. We all know that. But we also know that he often scores in those matches. Despite all of City’s misery this season, Haaland is still at the top of the Premier League goalscoring chart with 12 goals.

Van Dijk left him nothing. He made it anonymous. In Haaland’s impotence, one moment stood out. Midway through the second half, Haaland made a lightning burst behind Liverpool’s defense and Manuel Akanji lifted a pass into his path.

Haaland sensed a rare opportunity, the kind he often takes advantage of, the kind that panics smaller defenders, the kind where Haaland sows confusion and strikes. Not this time. Van Dijk matched his sprint and calmly and beautifully took the ball down with one touch, turning around as if it were a matter of routine.

All of this brings us to the reality that Van Dijk’s contract expires at the end of this season and he and Liverpool have not yet agreed a new deal. All this also brings us to the conclusion that Liverpool must keep him if they want to ensure continuity of success.

Everyone knows the situation the club finds itself in. All their success this season has come with concerns over the fact that Van Dijk, Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold will all be free agents this summer.

All three are playing like a dream under new manager Arne Slot. Alexander-Arnold is the best passer of the ball in the Premier League. Many, including me, believe he is also the most naturally talented player in the English game.

Salah is the best striker in the league this season. He is one of the greats of English football and can be compared to the legends of Liverpool, even strikers such as Kenny Dalglish and Ian Rush, Robbie Fowler and Michael Owen. He enjoys their company very much.

And then there’s Van Dijk, who at 33 is the oldest of them all, but is playing better than ever before and whose leadership qualities have made him increasingly indispensable to the club he has graced for seven years.

No one knows exactly what their future will look like, but here is one scenario: Alexander-Arnold, who has won everything there is to win with his boyhood club, moves to Real Madrid, where he can test himself at the biggest club in the world. If that happens, he should go with the blessing of every Liverpool fan.

Salah, who turns 33 this summer, can leave. At every home game there is a banner in the Kop with the text ‘He fires an arc, now give Mo his money’, but of course it is not that simple.

It’s easy to say ‘give him what he wants’ to any player, but Liverpool are managed by smart people, not least FSG football chief Michael Edwards, and they may decide they can’t compete with what the Saudi league is willing to pay. Salah at a time when his numbers will start to decline.

Some things don’t add up. Those of us who admired and understood the weekend protests over rising ticket prices also worry that if a club pays too high wages for players, it will pass on some of those costs to fans.

Then we stay with Van Dijk. Liverpool cannot afford to lose all three of their big players and even if their captain is not in the early stages of his youth, the likes of Edwards are also smart enough to know the value he represents to the club moving forward then statistics.

There are no indications of decline in the club captain. In fact, the evidence is that Van Dijk, after recovering from the serious knee injury he suffered in a Merseyside derby in October 2020, is getting better and better every year.

He is now back to the player he was before the injury, with the added benefit of more experience. He can’t play forever, but there’s a good chance he can remain one of the best center halves in the league for the next three years.

In that time, he can not only lead the team, but also help bring in excellent young talents like Jarell Quansah, who has the promise and ability to be Van Dijk’s long-term successor.

Amid all their current success, Liverpool face three different tests regarding their three best players. Retaining Van Dijk is the one test they cannot fail.

The reputation of tennis is declining

The minor reprimands handed out to Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek after failed drug tests have done untold damage to the reputation of modern tennis.

At one level, their paltry penalties have made it seem as if there is one rule for the best players and another for the journeymen. On another level, their treatment has forfeited tennis’s right to be seen as a clean sport.

As both cycling and athletics have discovered to their regret, once the public no longer believes what it sees, a sport is in deep, deep trouble.

The omission of repetitions remains a great shame

My love for the FA Cup will forever be rooted in the achievements of the Wimbledon team during the 1974-75 season, when they were not yet playing in the competition.

Chief among those memories was the match in which they held mighty Leeds United to a draw in the fourth round, forcing the match into a replay. I realize this is ancient history now, fifty years ago, but the abolition of replays by the FA is a sore point that continues to cry.

In previous years, both Harborough Town and Kettering Town, who lost to league opponents in extra time on Sunday, would have found themselves in the third round on Monday evening. Instead, the excitement and motivation of that prospect have been lost.

The FA should have protected competition at all costs. Instead, the country is watching it being gradually killed.