Virgil van Dijk has insisted he has not been surprised by Liverpool's season so far as he was asked about the Reds' trophy credentials
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(Image: PA)
Virgil van Dijk is refusing to get carried away after Liverpool moved four points clear at the top of the Premier League table. The Reds took advantage of Chelsea dropping points away at Everton to extend their lead, courtesy of their own 6-3 thrashing of Tottenham Hotspur.
Arne Slot’s side are also top of the Champions League league table with an 100% winning record, and are on the verge of sealing their place in the round-of-16. Meanwhile, they progressed to the League Cup semi-finals last week and host Accrington Stanley in the FA Cup third round next month.
Liverpool are back in action at home to Leicester City on Boxing Day as they look to extend their 21-game unbeaten run. But despite the Reds leading the pack at Christmas, Van Dijk is taking nothing for granted in the Premier League title-race.
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“We’ve been there, we’ve done it. We’ve lost twice in very small margins,” he said. “The key is to take it game by game.
“Tottenham was a big one. We won. Now we focus on Leicester. We take it game by game. Every game is a difficult game.
“You’ve seen already throughout the whole season. I expect Thursday again to be a difficult game. But we play at home, we are in a good moment, but now is time to be recovering from this and we start analysing Leicester from tomorrow morning.
“It is all about going back home now. Starting the recovery process and be ready for Leicester and focus on the next one and the next one.
“It is about staying fit, consistent, in good shape physically, but mentally as well. Going top of the league at Christmas will make Christmas nice for all of the Reds around the world. But we want to be there in May as well.”
He continued: “We don’t think what’s out there in May. We want to be up there in May but we’ve seen how difficult it is.
“Other teams couldn’t do it apart from City, who did it. We focus on what is next ahead of us. That is the only thing.
“I’m not getting dragged into any conversation about potentially winning a trophy, or two or three or four. It’s all about being there each and every game that is ahead of us.
“At the moment that was Spurs, tough one, but we made a very good game. The next is Leicester and that is the only thing we have influence on as well.”
Van Dijk also insisted that he has not been surprised by Liverpool’s impressive campaign so far despite their limited summer transfer business as he reiterated his faith in Slot's squad.
“Obviously I think we have only one addition made to the squad in terms of Federico [Chiesa],” he said. “These group of players have been playing together for quite a long time and the experience is there, the quality is there.
“I see it each and every day. It’s obviously a surprise where it is such a big change where Jurgen [Klopp] being replaced by the new manager.
“There will always be question marks but I still had so much trust in my team that we could definitely be competing at the moment at the top of the Premier League at least.
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“We have to stay consistent and have players fit because unfortunately we’ve had some injuries as well."