“I will handle TWO of them the way I did to TWO strongest Man United attackers… Arsenal should just be ready for the big embarrassment awaiting them”: Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk says Arsenal have TWO good players who everyone at Liverpool are scared to face as he reveals how he can stop them
Virgil van Dijk has warned Liverpool’s title rivals he and his teammates are ‘not satisfied with just competing’ following Sunday’s 3-0 thrashing of Manchester United.
The Reds crushed their arch-rivals at Old Trafford, with Luis Diaz scoring a brace and Mohamed Salah finishing the job to punish some dreadful Man Utd mistakes.
Just three games into Arne Slot’s reign, Liverpool are already joint top of the Premier League table with maximum points, while they’ve scored seven goals and are yet to concede.
Van Dijk sends warning to Liverpool title rivals
Van Dijk is, of course, a veteran of the Jurgen Klopp era and was a leading figure in their Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and EFL Cup successes under the German.
However, even with just one year left on his contract, Van Dijk isn’t done yet.
In fact, he’s sent out a war cry specifically to the top two over the last two seasons, Manchester City and Liverpool, that he and his teammates have their eyes on the prize.
“It’s a proud moment. What pleased me the most was the performance from start to finish,” Van Dijk told Sky Sports (via BBC Sport).
“We want to enjoy ourselves out there and the only way to do that is with the hard work we put in. We dominated and should have scored more. Winning 3-0 is a big improvement from last year.
“We had to stay focused and we did very well. I’m very proud of the boys.
“Joshua Zirkzee plays now as a striker for them but I know he likes to drop and receive the ball to his feet. We know they like to do this passing in behind but we nullified it quickly. Our game plan worked. We kept patient.
“What Jurgen Klopp said in one of his last interviews is the new manager inherited a very good squad. The manager left but the players didn’t. We are not satisfied with just competing.
“We want to achieve greatness this season. I’m not competing in any competition just to compete, I want to win. We come up against a very good team in Man City and Arsenal. Our consistency is looking good, after the international break could be interesting when playing every three days. I’m certainly enjoying the ride.”