NewsVirgil van Dijk: It's going well but we need to keep consistency

The Reds bounced back from frustrations against Luton Town and Toulouse by seeing off Brentford 3-0 at Anfield on Sunday afternoon.

That result lifted Jürgen Klopp’s side to within a point of the league’s current pace-setters, Manchester City, who they will face next time out on November 25.

Asked about Liverpool maintaining their form and mounting a challenge this term, Van Dijk told reporters: “We need to see, we need a bit of luck, we need no injuries and need consistency.

“Overall this season we have been doing well but the season is not decided in November and there could be so many twists and turns, we all know that.

“You have all these aspirations, dreams, goals before the season and you want to compete until the very end in every competition we are in. That is definitely the case at the beginning of the season and then you grow into a season.

“There is still so much to play for. It’s going well, but if we had not got a result against Brentford we would have been in that downward spiral – from the outside world, of course – because you don’t set it up nicely for the game after the international break.

“But we finished on a positive feeling.”

The captain added of the victory over Brentford, which saw Mohamed Salah (two) and Diogo Jota provide the goals: “Obviously we needed to show a reaction and we wanted to show a reaction.

“Over two games you don’t have a great feeling but it is small margins. We score one chance and it’s totally different.

“The draw [against Luton], a very bad game in France and we had to deal with a lot of injuries [against Brentford] but I thought we did very well and put in a good performance.”

A clean sheet at the weekend means Liverpool currently have the joint-best defensive record in the division with 10 goals conceded in 12 games.

“If we keep a clean sheet we have a big chance of winning games with the quality up front,” said Van Dijk. “For us as a back four and the goalie and number six, it is our big job.

“We have to make sure we don’t concede. Sunday was a good day for it and we have to keep that going and keep things consistent.”

Van Dijk is one of the Reds squad whose attentions have now switched to representing their countries in November’s international fixtures.

Upon their return next week, sights will then be firmly set on a mouthwatering trip to Etihad Stadium to tackle City in a 12.30pm GMT kick-off.

The No.4 added: “Sunday was a big one for many reasons, we did that well and when we come back there is a very big one away and we will see if we are ready for that test.

“It’s always tough over there, especially coming back from all different countries. It’s exactly the same for them, although they have the advantage of playing at home.

“Hopefully everyone will come back fit from their games and it’s an early kick-off so we have to be ready for it. It will be an interesting one.”