Former Liverpool defender Phil Babb says Virgil van Dijk could benefit from a break.

Babb acknowledges Van Dijk's standards have slipped this season, though insists the Dutchman remains Liverpool's outstanding centre-half.

Speaking to Tribalfootball.com, on behalf of OLBG, Babb said of criticism of Van Dijk's form: "It's justified if you say that Virgil Van Dijk isn't playing at a 9/10 every week.

"But his 7/10 is someone else's 9/10.

"He's set the bar so high in that position in the past, even before he was at Liverpool whilst he was playing for Southampton.

"He was excelling in an average team, with no disrespect to Southampton.

"So, I'd have to agree that he's not hitting the heights that we've seen in previous seasons.

"Since he's come back from injury, he's played a lot of games because he's a Rolls Royce, he doesn't get any muscular injuries either but there might be some mental scar issue.

"That's just because he's been playing at such a high level for so many years, it just could be down to mental fatigue.

"I've seen some uncharacteristic mistakes from him this season which I would never have thought I would see Van Dijk do.

"That's not a criticism, it just makes you wonder whether he needs a break.

"When I look back to the 90s when I was playing, when Sir Alex Ferguson saw that in his players, he would let key players go on holiday for two weeks.

"He allowed his players to take themselves away because the pressures and demands of league football are tough and people don't see the mental strain that players go through.

"Obviously, Van Dijk is too important for Liverpool to let him have two weeks off and more so this season with the number of games.

"But the way Fergie handled that back in the day was brilliant and maybe managers might need to address that going forward."

Babb also says the defence has missed the ball-winning ability of Fabinho in front of them. The Brazil international has battled with injury so far this season and Babb says his absence has had an affect on the form of Van Dijk and underfire fullback Trent Alexander-Arnold.

"Fabinho is a fantastic player and it's great when Liverpool have him firing on all cylinders when he mops stuff up.

"In the modern game you need a Fabinho, you need that holding midfielder to be dynamic in that Kante sort of role.

"I don't think the back four has been exposed centrally, the centre halves are more than adequate.

"I think teams are seeing that because Liverpool push their fullbacks so high, that's there is space left to be exploited.

"That's why Trent Alexander-Arnold is coming under a lot of flak himself not just Van Dijk or any of the other defenders.

"Trent plays so forward and he's advanced so there is space there and when teams transition so quickly into that space then that's where it's creating problems.

"It's being targeted and teams will be looking to do that every single game.

"There's pressure on him and the media have caught onto his performances defensively because Jurgen Klopp has to answer questions on it.

"He's a fantastic player, but it's the noise around him affecting his performance."