Harry Kane vs Virgil van Dijk: England's captain has scored in HALF of his duels with the Dutch skipper - but a date this late in the season may remind him of when Liverpool star came out of top

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Tonight, Virgil van Dijk will lace up his boots and be tasked with keeping Harry Kane shtum. 

Is it a task? On current form, some might say muting Kane should be a rather straightforward assignment for one of the world's best defenders.

Fatigue after a long season. A hangover back injury. Unfamiliarity with Gareth Southgate's system. It takes no Einstein to work out that Kane has looked off the pace at Euro 2024 and offer some mitigations as to why. 

But wait, not so fast. We're talking about England's all-time record scorer here, such a goalhound that on his day he is the sort of man who can score twice with one shot. He has two goals at Euro 2024, not bad going. And Van Dijk has taken heat for his own performances in Germany. 

Kane's record against Van Dijk is encouraging - six goals in 12 appearances, though he may want to forget that 2019 Champions League final. Mail Sport takes you through their battles over the years. 

Harry Kane faces off against Virgil van Dijk tonight with both men arguably out of form

England's frontman has scored six goals in 12 outings against Van Dijk but only won twice 

Kane's first encounter with Van Dijk left the Dutchman red-faced not long into his first season at Southampton.

In December 2015 Spurs rocked up at St Mary's with a clear proviso from Mauricio Pochettino - score, win, and move into the top four.

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Kane and Dele Alli were on hand to do just that, and the former opened the scoring with a direct run in the style you'd expect of a Jeremy Doku. 

After squeezing between two defenders, Kane came face-to-face with a flat-footed Van Dijk, knocked the ball past him, evaded the clumsy challenge, and raced through on goal to score. He couldn't have had it much easier and Van Dijk, who had mistimed a swinging tackle for the ball, was left embarrassed. 

Indeed, Kane had a comfortable time against the Southampton-era Van Dijk, scoring twice in three games and winning both of those in which he scored. His other goal was a header from a corner, for which Van Dijk was not his marker. 

The worrying stat for Kane is that they are the only wins he has ever recorded against the towering centre-back. Yep, that's right. Twelve games, two wins, two draws, and, erm, eight losses for clubs and country. 

It would be senile to blame that head-to-head record on Kane - Liverpool have often been the superior side and expected to beat Spurs, while the striker has twice been the only scorer for his team in a loss against the Reds. 

One such example came in 2019, when Kane outfoxed Van Dijk to net in a 2-1 loss. Son Heung-min had hit the post with a cracking effort, and as Van Dijk stood stock-still, Kane crept away from him and picked the right spot to meet the rebound to head it in. 

Kane's first meeting with Van Dijk in 2015 saw him skip past the defender and score with ease

Van Dijk succeeded at stifling a half-fit Kane in the 2019 Champions League final 

Again, that instinct was seen in October 2022, when Kane made a darting run beyond Kane and gained room away from Ibrahima Konate to fire home a first-time effort after being teed up by Dejan Kulusevski. 

Kane's other goals against Liverpool were ones that stemmed from errors by Van Dijk, though they did not come about by Kane's hand.

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In March 2018 Van Dijk fouled Erik Lamela and Kane converted the penalty, while last year he capitalised on a cross by Kulusevski, who had wrong-footed Van Dijk, as Spurs went on to lose 4-3.

This much is clear: Kane has outwitted Van Dijk in the past.

His movement at Euro 2024 has been beneath his usual wily standards, not what we have come to expect from one of the game's finest all-round strikers, who can function both deep-lying and as a poacher. All it takes is one moment, though, and Kane can hurt the Netherlands. 

There's also the considerable boon that Van Dijk himself is considered to be out of form. 

Marco van Basten has been unimpressed. After the Netherlands lost 3-2 to Austria in the group stages, the Dutch legend said of Van Dijk: 'He's got to lead, and he's the one we're going to hold accountable in the end.'

We should also note that in 12 encounters with Kane, Van Dijk has only ever kept two clean sheets, and the last of those came back in 2019. Surrounded by an array of attacking talent, Kane is able to bring others into the action even if he does not score himself. 

Kane's last goal against Van Dijk came in April 2023, when he had more joy turning home a cross against a defence marshalled by the Dutchman 

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The memory that looms large, though, is from the Champions League final. The big time. The big opportunity. Kane, only partially fit for that game like he appears to be now, had little impact. Only the one shot on target all night. 

Therein lies the worry. Kane has often struggled to produce his best at semi-finals and finals, and if you compound that trend with his showings so far at Euro 2024, it paints a foreboding picture. 

Keep an eye on their battle tonight. It could be summer-defining.