Van Dijk: I don’t watch Man City games & Liverpool have nothing to lose

Virgil van Dijk admits to not watching Liverpool’s Premier League title rivals Manchester City, with the Reds defender claiming that Jurgen Klopp’s side still have nothing to lose at this stage.

Having missed out on the crown by a solitary point in 2018-19, the men from Merseyside are determined to go one better in the current campaign.

A faultless start has been made to that quest, with an eight-point lead at the top of the table established after just eight games.

Liverpool could be forgiven for glancing over their shoulder, given that a commanding advantage was squandered to City last season, but Van Dijk insists pressure is being embraced.

He told Sky Sports ahead of a trip to Manchester United on Sunday which will give Klopp’s team a chance to put down another marker: "I don't think we have anything to lose. Man City are the champions, they're defending their title and we want to get it. In my point of view, we just have to go for it.

"The pressure gets bigger, but that comes from the media. They love to put more pressure on us and that's something we have to deal with. I don't mind because I'm not thinking about what other people say, I just want to win every game that is ahead of me.

"We definitely need to enjoy it [being top of the Premier League] and be full of confidence, especially with the way we've got these points, having not had the best games but still getting the wins.

"There are so many games left, you can't really think about it [winning the title] - it's not realistic. We shouldn't and we don't, but it's the better situation to be in.

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"I don't watch Man City's games but I have family and friends who text me or say something, especially after the Wolves game [when City lost 2-0]. That's just part of life but we've learnt from last year that we don't have to look to the others until the end of the campaign. So far, we have been doing well but Man City are definitely not going away.

"The hunger [to win trophies] is even more than it was before [winning the Champions League]. Everyone wants to experience it again. It was such a fantastic evening with the whole build-up and everything that started with the game against Barcelona at home.

"We all have dreams, we all have targets. With the Champions League last year, we all started the competition hoping to win it and it's the same with the Premier League. Hopefully it'll happen this year but if not, we go again next year."

Liverpool are looking to land a first English top-flight title since 1990, with a barren run on that front about to hit the 30-year mark.

Van Dijk is determined to help restore domestic dominance, with it his opinion that the Reds can get even better.

The Netherlands international added: "There's definitely room for improvement - managing the games a bit better, sometimes teams are playing well against us and they want to beat us and they never give up.

"I'm thinking about Sheffield United when we played away, how tough it was there and big credit to them, they pushed us right to the end, created dangerous moments.

"There were times in the game when we had big chances but at the moment, we try to grind out those games as well and I think it's very important."