Sepp van den Berg was only 17 when Liverpool signed him for £1.3 million, rising to £4.6 million with clauses in his contract from his hometown club, PEC Zwolle. He joined the reigning Champions League holders at the time of the signing in 2019 with plenty of expectations. The pressure was already there with comparisons being made to Virgil van Dijk from the Liverpool fans which was quite a step-up from playing his first season at PEC Zwolle.

On 1 February 2021, Van den Berg signed for Preston North End on a loan deal for the remainder of the 2020-21 season, with the deal coming to fruition due to Ben Davies’ departure from Deepdale. A swap deal of some sorts, with rumours of another loan being available for Preston come the summer transfer window. Van den Berg played 22 games in Liverpool’s U-23 side, all at centre-back, and there was a step-up to be made in the Championship.

Van den Berg was a used substitute in his first game at Preston, and then an unused substitute for the recurring three games after. Since these fixtures, Van den Berg has started every game for Preston, usually in the right-back position due to Preston selling first-choice right-back Darnell Fisher to Middlesbrough late in the January window, causing club captain Alan Browne to cover the position before Van den Berg. Out of his 994 minutes as a Preston North End player, he has amassed 886 minutes at right-back.

Van Den Berg’s Effect as an Attacking Right-Back