Virgil van Dijk acclaimed Liverpool’s 3-1 victory over Manchester City as ‘a bit special’, but insisted no-one within the dressing room is getting carried away by the team’s standing at the Premier League summit.
A rampant Reds performance defeated the reigning champions at Anfield and opened up an eight-point lead at the top of the table, nine in front of Pep Guardiola’s men.
Nevertheless, while delighted by the outcome of a satisfying Sunday afternoon’s work, Van Dijk explained why it’s far too early to draw conclusions from their position in the division.
Pos. P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Liverpool 12 11 1 0 28 10 18 34
2 Leicester City 12 8 2 2 29 8 21 26
3 Chelsea 12 8 2 2 27 17 10 26
4 Manchester City 12 8 1 3 35 13 22 25
He said: “It’s like any other three points of course but it was a bit special because you are playing against the champions, your direct rival, and I think it was a very good game to watch. We are very happy to get the three points.
“We all know – and we all feel – there are so many games left that so many things can happen between now and May.
“The only thing which can happen is for everyone to stay fit and we need everyone to play as well as they can.
“We are very happy with the position we are in, but we cannot take it for granted. We just have to keep going and take it game-by-game.
“They are the champions first of all, so they will definitely be up there again. The other teams have been doing well, too.
“The only thing we focus on is the game ahead of us, it’s pretty boring and I keep saying it, but it is actually a fact. Let’s just go for it.
“You can imagine everyone is happy we got three points again, especially before an international break. It is not a nice feeling if you go into the international break having dropped points – especially at home – so we were very good and we had to be if we were going to get the three points.”
