Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk has insisted that it is more important to get a win against Manchester United than make a ‘statement’ similar to last season’s 5-0 win at Old Trafford – the Reds also won 4-0 at Anfield.
United’s consecutive defeats to Brighton and Brentford have made Liverpool heavy favourites on Monday. But Jurgen Klopp’s side are also yet to win a Premier League game so far this season after two rounds of fixtures, putting pressure on the need to get points.
Liverpool are not in a dire situation like United, having drawn twice rather than lose, but they are still not firing on all cylinders and cannot expect to blow their north west rivals away.
“It’s massive but it’s not about making a statement, we want to win and do everything that’s possible to win there,” Van Dijk explained, via LiverpoolFC.com.
“Over the years it has proven tough for us to win there, obviously last year was a great result, we can’t deny it. This year they’ve had a difficult start and we’ve not had the best start that we wanted either, so it will be interesting.
“They are a good team in my opinion, they have good players all over the pitch. Obviously they’re not in the best situation confidence-wise probably, but it’s the perfect game to turn it around for them. But we’re looking at ourselves and we want to make sure we’re ready for it.”