Virgil van Dijk believes Manchester City still has the quality to hurt Liverpool this weekend and even feels Pep Guardiola’s side could challenge for the Premier League title again next season.
The reigning champions have endured an uncharacteristically woeful campaign and exited the Champions League in meek fashion on Wednesday as Real Madrid easily swept City aside. Those timid displays have been a recurring theme of the campaign, as Liverpool found out when it earned a comfortable win when the sides last met. It has led to City’s slump down the table as it currently sits 17 points behind the Reds.
It seems like the perfect time for Liverpool to end its dreadful record at the Etihad, with no Premier League wins in east Manchester in nearly a decade. Van Dijk is all too aware of that; eight times he has traveled to the Etihad in the Premier League and is yet to come away with three points.
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Now would be the perfect time to end that unwanted record for a Liverpool side that is starting to feel the pressure after one win in its last four games. But Van Dijk is not allowing room for complacency and would point to last week’s 4-0 win over Newcastle United as proof that going to the City remains a huge challenge.
“They have the quality to hurt you and I expect a very difficult game like we have always played against each other, very intense and Sunday will be just like that,” the Dutch defender said. “Hopefully we can get the three points there.”
Asked if he feels City’s season is a blip and it will be back to challenge for the title again next year, Van Dijk replied: “I think they have fantastic players still, and a fantastic manager. They have the quality to be there.
“They have been winning Premier Leagues so many years in a row, and it’s very difficult to keep that consistency, but they have been doing it. Unfortunately [for them] now they are not showing as much as they want to, but I still consider them a very good team and they deserve that respect as well.”
Liverpool’s clash at City comes in a potentially pivotal period in the season, with it being the fourth game in a run of five matches over a 15-day period. After taking five points from games against Everton, Wolverhampton Wanderers, and Aston Villa, it has opened the opportunity for Arsenal to further chip away at Liverpool’s lead at the top of the table.
There’s no sense of panic from Van Dijk, though, who doesn’t see the dropped points as a concern.
“I knew this period would be a very different one like everyone did because we mentioned it to each other. I don’t think it’s that much of a disappointment.
“We are all winners, and there are moments in games where you can win them, but before the game, we had no points, and from the three matches, we now have five points, and the focus will be on the next one. All we do is focus on ourselves and don’t look at others because there’s no point. It’s the only way to get success.
“We are in the decisive part of the season and other teams are as well. Every game in the Premier League is hard work, we know that and we have seen it. Obviously, I experienced it over the last couple of years. We just have to keep going.”
