Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk is steeling himself for a gruelling December after brushing aside all talk of a Premier League title charge.
The Reds sit seven points clear of second-placed Chelsea after Wednesday night’s topsy-turvy 3-3 draw at Newcastle, a game which illustrated the challenge which lies ahead for Arne Slot‘s men.
They trailed 1-0 and 2-1 and then led 3-2 at James’ Park before Fabian Schar snatched a point at the death to deny them a fifth successive league win.
Asked if the Magpies had shown how tough the remainder of the season could be, Van Dijk said: “You maybe have to say that to all of the people that were speaking about the gap that we had created.
“I always say listen, we are in December, we have so many games coming up – I think eight more in December. We need everyone on top form, fit and like the manager said, we have five defenders for eight more games, so we need to manage ourselves and do everything in our power to be at our best.
“That’s the big challenge.”
More immediately, the next challenge is big too, with Liverpool making the short trip to Goodison Park to face derby rivals Everton on Saturday, a fixture in which they suffered a damaging 2-0 defeat last season.
Van Dijk said: “That game was very disappointing in so many ways, but Saturday is another opportunity.
“They will definitely be up for it, but so will we as well. I’m really looking forward to it, going there with our fans, hopefully get the three points and move on.”
That Liverpool did not emerge from their trip to Tyneside with three points was a source of disappointment, but they looked like heading home with no reward for their efforts until staging a second-half fightback.
Trailing to Alexander Isak’s thunderbolt, they levelled through Curtis Jones, and although Anthony Gordon restored the home side’s advantage, Mohamed Salah’s double looked to have won it before Schar intervened.
Asked if the Egypt international could currently be regarded as the best player in the world, Van Dijk said: “We all know how it works in football. One week everyone can say that; the next, everyone can say something else.
“I want him to be important like in the second half, and Saturday is another big one, so hopefully he can keep going.”
If Salah left the North East with his head held high, goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher did so ruing his decision to leave the late Bruno Guimaraes free-kick from which Schar slid home his 90th-minute equaliser.
However, Van Dijk said: “These things unfortunately happen in football and he has to keep going. Don’t listen to the reaction of the people – they will be very harsh on him, in my opinion.
“He has had an outstanding season, so just keep going. He will learn from this, like we all have to learn from the first half especially and hopefully be ready for a very, very big one on Saturday which will be very tough.”
