Virgil van Dijk insists Liverpool’s players are not getting carried away despite their perfect start to the Premier League campaign.
The Reds made it seven league wins in a row to start the season by edging past Sheffield United on Saturday.
Their 1-0 victory at Bramall Lane briefly took them eight points clear at the top of the table, though Manchester City reduced the gap to five by beating Everton later in the day.
Nonetheless, it has been a remarkable run for Jurgen Klopp’s side, who have now won their last 16 league games in a run stretching back to March. Only City can boast a longer winning streak in Premier League history, with Pep Guardiola’s team racking up 18 straight victories in 2017-18.
The plaudits keep on coming for the European champions, but Van Dijk says Klopp’s players will continue to narrow their focus and, to coin a footballing cliché, continue to take things game by game.
“It’s the media who love statistics,” said the Dutchman. “The reality is we have nothing at the moment. We want to continue to do well and there’s still plenty of room for improvement.”
Asked if there was any psychological significance in being the team with the advantage at this stage of the season, Van Dijk was similarly firm.
“No. It’s far too early,” he said. “We’re almost in October and the busy period will come. There are still so many games left and the only thing we focus on is the game ahead of us.
“We don’t want to look at the others because there’s no point doing that. Everyone realises that as well because last season we saw how it turned quickly. We just want to focus on the game ahead of us.”
Liverpool were far from their best against Sheffield United, struggling for rhythm and wasting a pair of first-half chances before Gini Wijnaldum’s volley squirmed through goalkeeper Dean Henderson, 20 minutes from time. It was a narrow win but a priceless one, even at this stage of the season.
“They made it very hard for us and I’m very happy we got the three points,” Van Dijk said.
“We have to win every game, that’s how it is. Everyone knew how tough it would be. It’s a great place to come, passionate fans, a great atmosphere. It was a tough game.
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“Sympathy [for Henderson]? I’m just thinking about my team and the fact we won. It doesn’t matter for me how the goal has gone in, it has gone in and that’s what matters.”
Van Dijk added: “We’re definitely growing, we’re definitely getting more experience of that situation and hopefully that will help us in the long run.
“We have to be confident, you have to think you’re going to win every game otherwise you might as well stay at home.
“We have the quality, we have the players. We’ll take this, recover and then prepare for Salzburg.”
Liverpool expect to discover this week what punishment, if any, they will face if found to have fielded an ineligible player in their Carabao Cup third-round win over MK Dons.
It has emerged that midfielder Pedro Chirivella, a second-half substitute in the Reds’ 2-0 win, may have played without the club having secured an International Transfer Certificate (ITC), required following the Spaniard’s return from a loan to Extremadura last season.
The EFL has confirmed that an investigation has been launched, and could kick Liverpool out of the competition if found guilty.
But Anfield sources have told Goal that the club believe they would have a strong mitigation, having applied for Chirivella’s ITC back in July. The issue, while an oversight on their behalf, also lies with the Football Association, who are the ones to grant the ITC.
It is understood that a fine is, at this stage, the likeliest outcome.
The Reds have been drawn to play Arsenal at home in the fourth round.
