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The Liverpool captain has been discussing his side battle for silverware this season.
Liverpool captain Virgil Van Dijk has warned the hectic schedule and mounting injury lists across the Premier League could play a part in deciding who will win the title this season.
The Reds are currently sitting at the top of the table after losing just one of their 15 league games so far this season and are well placed to secure only their second title of the Premier League era. A win at Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday afternoon would ensure Arne Slot’s side will head into Christmas as the Premier League’s number one and they will also have the benefit of holding a game in hand on the likes of Chelsea, Arsenal and reigning champions Manchester City.
The festive fixture list always provides managers with some headaches as the depth of their squads are severely tested and this year is no different. Slot is currently preparing his players for Wednesday’s Carabao Cup quarter-final tie at managerless Southampton and will then turn his focus towards Sunday’s trip to North London. Leicester City are the visitors to Anfield on Boxing Day and the 2024 fixtures come to a close with an away day at West Ham United.
With four games in eleven days, former Feyenoord head coach Slot is hoping for some positive news on the injury front as defensive trio Ibrahima Konate, Conor Bradley and Konstantinos Tsimikas all close on a return to fitness. The Reds boss also has to deal with a one-match ban handed to left-back Andrew Robertson after his controversial red card in Saturday’s home draw with Fulham that will rule the Scotland international out of the midweek visit to Southampton.
Speaking ahead of the quarter-final tie, Van Dijk warned the high volume of fixtures faced by many top players throughout the last two years and the hectic schedule over the Christmas period may well dictate what lies ahead for his side and their rivals in the new year.
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He said: "Let's see what happens on Wednesday. I don't know, maybe the manager has to be creative. The injuries that are there we have to accept and deal with, unfortunate of course, but hopefully things will change and players will come back as soon as possible in the best way. It has been mentioned many times already, injuries are piling up, you see that with different teams, and the amount of games we play.
“Then injuries are bound to happen and that could change the quality of games as well. But what [Manchester City] have been going through with injuries and inconsistent games, going up and down, we've been there as well and it's not an easy place to get out of and it's not an easy place to be in.
"I won't speak about them because I don't focus on them but I know how difficult it is to go through that and hopefully we don't go through it but we also have the injuries. Whether that is because of the load and all the games, you don't know, but obviously it plays a big part because it takes a lot of your body, not only playing the game but the travelling, flying up and down the world, but that is football for 2024/25 so you have to deal with it."
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