Tammy Abraham brands Van Dijk ‘beast’

Chelsea forward Tammy Abraham has revealed that Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk is the toughest defender he’s faced in the Premier League.
Abraham, 22, returned from a successful loan spell with Aston Villa to star for Chelsea this season, scoring nine goals in his opening 11 appearances under Frank Lampard.
Gareth Southgate rewarded Abraham with an international call-up this month and the striker is line to feature in England’s Euro 2020 qualifiers against Czech Republic and Bulgaria.
Abraham has come up against Van Dijk twice this season but is yet to find a way past the Dutchman who was named PFA Player of the Year last term.
The youngster came on in the second half of Chelsea’s Super Cup defeat to Liverpool back in August before Jurgen Klopp’s side beat the Blues at Stamford Bridge last month.
“He’s a beast. He’s just good at what he does. He’s experienced,” Abraham told The Daily Mail.
“It is to do with little things. Movement. My movement in the box, some defenders don’t pay attention to me — they are only focused on the ball.
“With him, it’s kind of both, he’s paying attention to me and the ball, knows where I am, knows where I want to go, follows me.
“It’s quite annoying for a striker – just leave me alone!”
Abraham believes his loan spells with Bristol City, Swansea and Villa “toughened” him up and prepared him for the life in the English top flight.
“I’ve had other experiences when I’ve gone out on loan again — back into the Championship, which wasn’t ideal for me at the time but brought a lot of positives,” he said.
“Going back into the war zone, as they call it, I got to toughen up.
“Although I didn’t score as many goals at Swansea as I would have liked to, I got to enjoy football again and started scoring at Villa and then had a great end to the season.
“I’ve always believed in myself, it’s still early. I’ve got to keep on trying to help the team.”