Liverpool golden title chance how Van Dijk became as influential as Gerrard

It's a special edition of the superb Allez Les Rouges podcast, recorded in Dublin, before host Peter Hooton and regular guest Simon Hughes speak at a show about the latter's excellent new book, There She Goes: Liverpool, A City on its Own: The Long Decade: 1979-1993.

The duo are joined by Dublin-based Reds supporter Ed Fitzsimmons, and they start by talking about the links between Liverpool and Dublin before Simon, an author and journalist, speaks about his new job at The Athletic, and his recent interview with Xabi Alonso.

The former Liverpool midfielder is now focusing of all of his efforts on his first managerial role with Real Sociedad's B team, but he told Simon all about how hard it is to break out of the 'cage' constructed by Jurgen Klopp's teams from his time playing under Pep Guardiola in Germany with Bayern Munich.

Klopp certainly still seems to have Guardiola's number , as demonstrated by the Reds' magnificent 3-1 victory over the Spaniard's Manchester City side before the international break.

The victory moved Liverpool nine points clear of defending champions City and eight points clear at the top.

And Simon believes the Reds will never have a better chance of landing a first top-flight title in 30 years.

That said there is some wariness on the panel about this Saturday's trip to take on Roy Hodgson's Crystal Palace , but less so about Wednesday's Champions League clash at home to Napoli, whom Peter explains are in the middle of a remarkable full-blown civil war.

And there's is also time to focus on potential Ballon d'Or winner Virgil van Dijk .

Simon offers a fascinating insight into how swiftly van Dijk became a leader at Liverpool, arguing that his influence now is on a par with Steven Gerrard's during his illustrious Anfield career.