Reaction'It's a massive win' - Trent and Van Dijk react to victory at Newcastle
The Reds earned three points at St. James' Park to register back-to-back wins after first-half goals from Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo.
Newcastle saw goalkeeper Nick Pope receive a red card amid a busy opening period, as Jürgen Klopp's men secured a vital 2-0 victory on the road.
Read on to see what Alexander-Arnold and Van Dijk had to say to Sky Sports post-match...
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Trent Alexander-Arnold
On the result…
It's a massive one for us. This was a big one. We got our win against Everton, that was a massive one for us as well. It would have meant nothing if we'd come here and hadn't backed it up with another win. That's what we came here to do, we picked them apart [with] two good goals. The red card settles the game down for us and makes it difficult for them. It's a tough place to come, not many teams come here and win, so we're delighted to take the three points home.
On the opening goal in the 10th minute coming at a 'good' time…
Any stage of the game, you need a goal – especially the opening goal and at a place like this as well when the crowd is on your back. It's a tough place to come, intimidating, the atmosphere is top, so it's important to get an early goal to settle that down. It was a good sequence of play, something we've worked on in training, especially on our triangle on the side and moving them around. It was a great run from Darwin and a great finish. It was important. They haven't conceded a lot of goals, it was something we talked about. To break them down twice isn't a thing many teams do.
On building confidence and momentum…
It's been a season where we haven't had much confidence. We've had good performances here and there but no consistent period so far. Hopefully this is the beginning of that. We're used to going on winning streaks throughout seasons, we know how to put them together. It's starting to feel – and look – like the Liverpool team that we're used to. There are positive signs. There's things we can look at and get better at… it's a great stepping stone for us.
Virgil van Dijk
On whether it could be a significant result…
Let's hope so. We've had results in the season where we have felt like now is the time to kick on. But this feels a little bit different I think. Coming away from the big win against Everton, it was important to keep going and find a way to win. We had intensity, especially in the beginning.
The red card changed the game a little bit for them, but also for us. We could have done better, but there is a reason why we are the only team to win here this season. I am very proud of the boys. Now we must recover with the quick turnaround and focus on Real Madrid. We have had a difficult season, but to come and win here, I'm really proud. We take it, we move on, and step by step we go forward.
On his return from injury…
It feels very good. Being healthy is the most important thing in the world. It was a tough six weeks but I'm back, obviously I will do everything in my power to recover and be ready for the Champions League game, it is massive for us. It's a lot of hard work behind the scenes but I'm happy to be back and contributing to a very good win. Now it's time to make the rest of the season as good as possible and do it all together.
On being six points from the top four…
I think this whole season has proven any team can beat any team. We want to find that consistency with what we have been doing the last five years, how good we have been [and] the standard we have been setting as a team, group and club. The only way to do that is on the pitch. Today and in the last game against Everton we showed that. This is a good step and we'll take it. Onto the next one.