2 days ago
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Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk has called on his teammates to keep going and continue picking up the points after a strong start to the season — challenging the team to kick on after beating Arsenal.
The Reds have already picked up nine points in the Premier League, and are the only side yet to draw or lose. Liverpool beat Bournemouth on the opening weekend before then winning at Newcastle United and defeating the Gunners.
"Nine points out of three games going into the international break is obviously a big thing for us," Van Dijk told reporters. "It's only three games in, everyone has to fight for each other, stay fit, and stay in shape — then start the chaos."
After the international break, Liverpool plays Burnley at Turf Moor and then hosts Atletico Madrid in the Champions League.
Between the September and October internationals, Arne Slot's men will play twice a week with a home tie against Southampton in the Carabao Cup third round to come too.
"Yeah, the noise is always there," Van Dijk said. "We know where we have to improve and can improve, and we worked very hard on it this summer and also last week.
"Against Newcastle, there were a lot of set-pieces, and (against Arsenal) there were a lot of set-pieces.
"Of course you have to find a way, that's the main thing, that's what we've shown consistently over the years — finding a way.
"But I think it was also down to all the hard work, the amount of times we won the ball in difficult areas, and broke on to them. It was good."
Boosted by the signings of Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz, among several others this summer, Liverpool has dramatically increased the level of its roster. Now, the task is to tie everything together.
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"Every game you can analyze certain things, but I'll let you guys do the talking," Van Dijk explained. "What we have to do is focus on ourselves.
"After the Community Shield, there was plenty of talk of 'Is it going to go well?'. Here we are, nine points from three games. It's all about focusing on ourselves, improve, improve, because there are many things we can improve.
"Against Arsenal, we showed many things, resilience to win. But we have to find consistency and be ready for the chaos because we're going to play every three days, Champions League, League Cup, so let's go."
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