Virgil van Dijk makes Liverpool injury admission and strong Manchester United claim

Virgil van Dijk makes Liverpool injury admission and strong Manchester United claim

Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk believes his career-threatening knee injury has no doubt made him appreciate Liverpool’s season even more as their quadruple quest goes on.

The Dutchman also called for liverpool fans to savour the next few weeks themselves as the unprecedented quest for all four trophies reaches boiling point.

“I’ve played almost over 50 games this season so that is something I won’t take for granted. I just want to keep it going, stay fit, win games and see what it brings and get ready for the World Cup as well.

Andy Robertson, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold (Photo credit: Getty Images)

“Normally in the first six months of the season you play every three days but you don’t play the biggest opponents every three days but it is something you should enjoy, something we should all enjoy.

“The game on Tuesday (against Manchester United) is going to be intense against our rivals, we need the fans as well to be here with us, just enjoy it and we will give it everything.

“That’s what we can promise until the end of the season and whatever happens we will see.”

Asked if lifting the Premier League title behind closed doors in July 2020 gave any added motivation for the remainder of the campaign, Van Dijk said having supporters back this year has provided Liverpool with the support they need to thrive.

“We are Liverpool, we are everywhere,” he added. “I’ve seen that over the years. What happened today was that we had such a great atmosphere, it was expected.

“We don’t take it for granted. Let’s just go for it for the rest of the season.

“We need everyone, home games, away games. Just enjoy it, it’s quite special what is going on. Hopefully we will all remember these times in 10 or 20 years time when we look back.

“We said it many times, we focus on the game ahead of us. That’s really the case, all this talk about quadruple or treble is from the outside world and could put extra pressure on us.

“Nobody did the quadruple, there is a reason for it – because it is almost impossible to do.

“We are in a good moment, we got to the final now for a trophy that we haven’t won as a group.

“So we will see what it brings. We are focused now on recovery and getting ready for United because that’s going to be a tough game.”

Van Dijk also reserved a word of praise for Ibrahima Konate, who scored his third goal in as many games in the 3-2 win over City on Saturday afternoon.

“He’s looking quite impressive for his age,” Van Dijk said. “He’s very mature but there is still so much to learn for him.

“Everyone can still improve. He has such a good mentality, he wants to learn, he wants to improve and we are just happy that the players that have come in have adapted so well.

“Luis Diaz [was] unbelievable first half as well with the impact he had. We will keep it going. We need everyone until the end of the season.”

In other news, Liverpool Goalkeeper Alisson Becker makes ‘honest admission’ about Manchester City’s Ederson