Van Dijk insists Liverpool won’t ‘get ahead of ourselves’ in title race
Virgil van Dijk has insisted Liverpool won’t get ahead of themselves in the Premier League title race despite beating Manchester City at Anfield.
Arne Slot’s side extended their lead at the top of the table to nine points with a 2-0 win over the defending champions on Sunday. Cody Gakpo opened the scoring from close range on 12 minutes, before Mohamed Salah sealed the win from the penalty spot after the break.
Liverpool controlled proceedings throughout and were well worth the three points, with the Reds guilty of missing a host of good chances to extend their advantage. Van Dijk hit the post with a headed effort and planted another header just wide.
The result continues a dream start under Slot, who has won 18 of his first 20 games in charge across all competitions. Liverpool are now nine points clear of nearest challengers Arsenal and Chelsea, and 11 clear of Manchester City. Despite their healthy lead, Van Dijk said the Reds were not getting carried away with talk of the title heading to Merseyside.
“I think City is a fantastic team. Four-time champions in a row. They have the quality to punish any team. But I think we were solid defensively and had great chances. We could have scored more,” Van Dijk reflected on the win to Sky Sports.
“Good game. We won. And we move on.
“We focus on the next game. That’s the only thing we can do. There’s no point at this stage of the season to get ahead of ourselves. Of course everybody wants to be in a position where they are 11 points ahead of their opponents. But there’s so many twists and turns. We have injuries to our team unfortunately and we have to deal with that.”
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