Van Dijk warns Liverpool of Huddersfield 'trap' as Reds refuse to give up on title dream

And so it is over to Burnley. Or Leicester. Or even Brighton.

Liverpool’s list of potential favours is thinning after Manchester United proved unable to stop the runaway train that is Manchester City on Wednesday night.

With three games to go, Pep Guardiola’s side have hit the front. For Reds fans, the optimism is fading.

Turf Moor on Sunday holds some hope, of course. Sean Dyche, you may not know, is a boyhood Liverpool supporter.

His Burnley team are nothing if not committed. City dropped points there last season, and know they will face awkward, obstinate opponents this weekend.

Before that though, Liverpool can return to the top of the Premier League with victory over Huddersfield Town at Anfield on Friday night.

Though the common narrative is that there are ‘no guarantees’ at this stage of the season (or in this league), the fixture looks as close to a ‘home banker’ as you can get. The already-relegated Terriers have picked up just 14 points this season, and have won just once on the road.

Pipe and slippers time for Liverpool, then, who come into the game on a run of nine straight wins in all competitions, and unbeaten in their last 18 matches?

Not quite.

“It could be a trap,” says Virgil van Dijk, warning his team-mates against complacency on Friday night. “They are relegated, but we are at home and we want to show what we’ve been doing all season.”

Liverpool’s season, regardless of how it ends, stands as one of the most remarkable in the club’s history.

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Victory over Huddersfield would give them a club-record points total, surpassing the title-winning side of 1987-88. Jurgen Klopp’s men can feasibly – and will be expected to – end the season with 97 points. No side in English history has ever earned more and not been champions.

Frustrating for supporters desperate to see a first league championship since 1990, but what about for the players? Have they prepared themselves mentally for the idea that they may fall agonisingly short?

“You’re not going to prepare yourself for being second,” Van Dijk says. “You’re just going to prepare yourself for the next game.

“For us now, that’s going to be Huddersfield. Then we are going to prepare for a bit of a tough game over there in Barcelona!

“That’s the only way we see it and at the end of the season if we won all the games hopefully, if we aren’t going to be champions we will keep our heads high and make sure we go again next season.”

With a Champions League trip to Barcelona on the horizon, the temptation will be there for Klopp to make changes to his starting XI for Huddersfield’s visit.

Joe Gomez is pushing for a first start since December, having appeared as a substitute in Liverpool’s last two games. The England international could replace either Trent Alexander-Arnold or Joel Matip in defence, as the Reds look to clinch a 20th Premier League clean sheet of the campaign.

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In midfield both Fabinho and James Milner will hope for recalls, though the form of Naby Keita and Jordan Henderson in recent weeks makes selection tough for Klopp.

Van Dijk believes issues such as that show how far the team have come this season. And their record against teams in the bottom half of the table this season offers no encouragement to Huddersfield.

Only West Ham, who start this weekend 11th, have taken any points at all from the Reds. Their record otherwise reads: played 17, won 16.

“Everyone knows how consistent we are this season,” Van Dijk says. “And how clinical as well, mature too.

“Obviously we are not there yet, we still have three games that we all want to win. It’s going to be tough but let’s just go for it.”