LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 01: Virgil van Dijk of Liverpool celebrates at the final whistle following the team's victory during the Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Manchester City FC at Anfield on December 01, 2024 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Virgil van Dijk helped Liverpool to a 2-0 win
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk has firmly warned his team-mates not to get 'ahead of themselves' after going 11 points clear of Manchester City.
The Reds produced another convincing performance under the guidance of Arne Slot to open a huge margin between themselves and Pep Guardiola's City. Thanks to their comfortable 2-0 win over the reigning champions, Liverpool are also nine points clear of second-place Arsenal, despite only being just over a third of the way into the Premier League season.
But Van Dijk, who's tasted heartache in title races before, knows that nothing is won at this time of year. "Good game. We won and we move on," the Dutch defender told Sky Sports post-match.
"We focus on the next game. That's the only thing we can do. There's no point at this stage of the season to get ahead of ourselves. Of course everybody wants to be in a position where they are 11 points ahead of their opponents. But there's so many twists and turns. We have injuries to our team unfortunately and we have to deal with that."
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Van Dijk, 33, was even disappointed that Liverpool didn't punish punch-drunk City on more occasions, having missed three chances to score himself. "I think City is a fantastic team; four-time champions in a row," he added. "They have the quality to punish any team. But I think we were solid defensively and had great chances. We could have scored more."
New boss Slot echoed Van Dijk's comments, insisting that Liverpool need to strive for consistency, having also put Real Madrid to the sword in the Champions League on Wednesday. "I think if you want to win anything, and that's what I just said, it's not about what you are able to do, but it's more about the consistency," Slot explained.
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Arne Slot doesn't want Liverpool to take their foot off the gas
"Only a few teams maybe have won from City or from Real Madrid once in a while, but it's not about winning once or twice against them. If you want to win anything, it's all about consistency. These teams - like Madrid, like City, but I saw Arsenal yesterday and I saw Chelsea today - they are all capable of getting the same winning streak as we have, so let's not get carried away by one or two wins.
"It's all about consistency until the end of the season, keeping the players fit, keeping them playing with this much energy. And like you probably saw today, I only had five defenders available. So to win something in the end, there's such a long way to go and so many challenges to take. But it's good that we are capable of winning against these teams in our own style."
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