Programme notes'The hard work is just beginning' – Virgil van Dijk's New Year message

The Reds are in action on the first day of 2024 as they host Newcastle United at Anfield in the Premier League.

They will do so having led the division at its halfway point of 19 games, following the 2-0 win at Burnley on Boxing Day.

Writing in the matchday programme for the visit of Newcastle, Van Dijk reflects on the team’s development during the campaign and why the challenge is now to ‘kick on’.

• Get your copy of the matchday programme at Anfield on Monday or order online here

“The most important message for our supporters is a very straightforward one – Happy New Year. On behalf of all of the players, I sincerely hope that the next 12 months are as positive for you as they can be and if we can play a part in that as a team, all the better,” says the captain.

“The best way for this to happen, of course, is by getting results and we haven’t done too badly on this front so far this season. The fact that we are still involved in all of the competitions that we entered speaks for itself, but it also adds to the responsibility that we feel because having given ourselves a decent platform we now have to build on it.

“This is the kind of challenge that you accept when you join a club like Liverpool. If you win a trophy, you then have to focus on the next one. Win most of your games and you have to work out how you can improve in order to win more. Put yourself in a good position and you have to work even harder so that you can put yourself in an even better one. This is why you can never get carried away.

“It’s not that doing well in the first half of the season does not count for anything. Of course it does and as I’ve said, it has clearly given us something to build on. But the fact remains that any team that has put itself in a good position going into January has to kick on if they want to still be in a good position when the business end of the season comes around.

“We are still some way off that, though, which is why while others are looking further ahead we prefer to focus on the next game. [Next] this means facing a Newcastle United team which has now established itself as a contender at the top end of the Premier League and an opponent which we always expect to give us a proper test.

“In the main, we have good memories of our most recent encounter because we were able to get an incredible result against the odds. It clearly wasn’t the day for me personally, but as a team it is definitely one of those days that we are now able to regard as an important step on our journey because of the obstacles that we had to overcome.

“But any fondness we have for that occasion also has to be framed around the knowledge of how difficult it was to get the win and the reason for that is simple – Newcastle played really well and it was only in the latter stages that we were able to take the result away from them. So our expectation for this return fixture at Anfield is definitely more of the same. It will be another tough game, there is no doubt about that.

“We also have something to put right because it has been a couple of games since we won at home in the Premier League. There was not too much wrong with our performances against Manchester United and Arsenal – and I would argue that there was actually a lot right with them – but the sooner we can get back to winning ways here the better.

“Our home record is something to be proud of and has been for as long as I have been here, with the exception of the period when we played without fans. The standards we have set are very, very high but, again, that creates a responsibility that we have to live up to.

“In simple terms this means winning as many games as possible, especially when we are playing at Anfield.

“As things stand, we have a lot to look forward to as players and supporters, but at the same time we know that the hard work is only just beginning so let’s see what we can do together and what the New Year might bring.”

• Get your copy of the matchday programme at Anfield on Monday or order online here