Virgil van Dijk wants ‘aggressive’ Liverpool as Trent Alexander-Arnold makes ‘consistency’ admission

Liverpool stars Trent Alexander-Arnold and Virgil van Dijk have been speaking ahead of Sunday’s clash with Manchester United.
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Trent Alexander-Arnold and Virgil van Dijk have been speaking ahead of Liverpool’s clash with Manchester United.

The Reds are well aware of how crucial this game is, and not just because bragging rights will be on the line at Anfield. Liverpool are closing the gap between themselves and the top four, and with United in third place, this is a real chance for Jurgen Klopp’s men to pull themselves further to the group at the top.

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Currently, Liverpool are six points off the top four, but they also have a game in-hand, and that puts them on good pace to recover and land a top four spot amid a frustrating season so far, though an in-form United side are more than capable of knocking them off that pace.

It’s for that reason van Dijk wants Liverpool to take the game to United with an ‘aggressive’ approach.

“It is a bit of a game on its own,” said the Dutchman. “It’s probably getting all the hype that comes with it and we are the ones who obviously are not in good form and they are absolutely in form. But we know what we are capable of and we have to be at our best: players, the fans and the whole build-up towards it.

“Everyone has to feel responsible for getting a good result. It is not easy, it’s not easy for fans as well, and sometimes you can get a little bit nervous but we need everyone to be behind us no matter what. We could have beaten them there (at Old Trafford in August) but obviously we lost (2-1) and that’s the reality.

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“But we should be confident, we should be aggressive and I’m looking forward to it because you want to be out there performing and showing what you can do. We will give it everything and hopefully it will be a good game on our side and we keep marching on towards that Champions League spot.”

Alexander-Arnold has been singled out for criticism at times this season Alexander-Arnold has been singled out for criticism at times this season
Alexander-Arnold has been singled out for criticism at times this season

It has been a hugely frustrating season for Liverpool so far, and while injuries have played a part, there’s no doubting that Klopp’s men have performed under par. Speaking to JOE, Alexander-Arnold addressed that poor form.

“It’s difficult because, as you said, we aren’t really playing too different,” he said. “It’s just not clicked at times. We’ve not been able to string together too many good results and there hasn’t been that much consistency over the course of the season. That’s probably the biggest problem, it’s lack of consistency.

“But it’s something we’re trying to pick up on. We’ve got four good results in the league on the bounce now, and it’s something that we want to build on and push towards the end of the season for.”