‘There is no reason’ – Virgil van Dijk sends message to Liverpool teammates ahead of Arsenal clash
Virgil van Dijk has insisted his Liverpool teammates should be looking forward to Thursday night’s clash with Arsenal at the Emirates.
Despite the Premier League champions being 14 points adrift of league leaders Arsenal at the moment, the Netherlands international believes there is ‘no reason’ to not be excited ahead of the game.
The Reds thought they had earned all three points last time out at Fulham on Sunday after Cody Gakpo netted in injury time at the end of the game, only for Harrison Reid’s stunning strike a few minutes later forcing the spoils to be shared.
“We all know at home they are unbeaten this season,” The Liverpool skipper said (as quoted by Liverpool Offside). “So it’s a nice challenge and we should be ready for a fight. I’m looking forward to it and everyone should. That is the only way to try to get a result. There is no reason to not look forward to it.
“Every game is difficult. We obviously have to see the positives and take that into the next challenge. That’s how it is. We keep fighting, keep going, and on to Arsenal.”
Van Dijk and Co. should be excited by the prospect of ruining Arsenal’s excellent home record.
Back in September Arne Slot’s side inflicted the first defeat of the season on the Gunners thanks to Dominik Szoboszlai’s stunning free kick late on at Anfield.
Arsenal have lost just one league game since then, at Aston Villa last month, and will be eager to retain or extend their six-point gap at the top on Thursday evening with another victory.
Liverpool have looked nothing like the team that cruised to their 20th league title last term.
Defensively the Reds are shaky and despite spending over £300m on attacking players in the summer, their attacking spark appears non-existent of late.
We certainly have players who can cause the north-London outfit trouble but we must ensure we’re defensively solid before worrying about the other end of the pitch.
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