And the Netherlands international today scooped the Standard Chartered Player of the Month award for August in recognition of his sterling work at the heart of the Reds defence.
Van Dijk played every minute of the trio of games in August, keeping three clean sheets in victories over West Ham United, Crystal Palace and Brighton and Hove Albion as Jürgen Klopp's side went top of the league.
Here, with the help of Opta's stats, we take a closer look at the 27-year-old's impressive impact last month...
240 successful passes (most for Liverpool)
93.