Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk is in bullish spirits about his side’s Premier League title push, promising that they are going to “go for it.”
The Dutchman is excelling as skipper, seamlessly taking on the honour from Jordan Henderson in 2023 and lifting the Carabao Cup last season, scoring the winning goal in the final against Chelsea.
Speaking to the Mirror, Van Dijk explained that a combination of experience and winning mentality will stand the Reds in good stead in the coming months.
“It’s the experience that will obviously help you, in my opinion, and it should help you, and my feeling is, it will,” Van Dijk said.
“If you play for Liverpool, then you always have these expectations.
“If you ask anyone in the Premier League, they would love to be in the position we are, at this point in the season, eight points clear. I’m a winner. I want to win in each and everything I compete in.
“I’m not participating just to be there; I want to be successful, and I’m playing games to win, and I want to be successful at the end of the season.”
Van Dijk has been an ever-present for Liverpool in the Premier League this season, playing every minute and looking at his peak, helping Arne Slot‘s side build an eight-point lead over Man City.
Going into further depth about the title race, the 33-year-old promised that the Reds will give all they have to seal glory.
“We’re going to give it a try. We’re going to go for it and hopefully enjoy it,” he added.
“We’re going to have difficult moments, going to have games where we play poor. But we want to find a way to win each and every game.
“And if you’re ready to suffer, ready to have these difficult moments and overcome them, then it could be a very special season.
“But we’ll see. I think we just have to enjoy the ride.”
If Liverpool are to win the league this season, the influence of Van Dijk will need to be as great as ever.
He has rarely looked better for the Reds, still standing out as the world’s best centre-back and leading the troops superbly.
Van Dijk will be needed even more in the absence of the injured Ibrahima Konate, too, with the Frenchman potentially missing for a number of weeks.
Should Liverpool go all the way in the league, it will be one of Van Dijk’s greatest achievements, further enhancing his legend to become the 11th Reds captain to lift the title.
