NewsVirgil van Dijk: We have shown our will to win - we have to keep up that mentality

The Reds lead the Premier League by six points with a game in hand ahead of travelling to third-placed Nottingham Forest for an 8pm GMT kick-off tonight.

Arne Slot’s men also set the pace at the summit of the Champions League standings, are into the Emirates FA Cup fourth round, and will aim to overturn a 1-0 deficit when they host Tottenham Hotspur in the second leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final.

Overall, Liverpool have won 24, drawn four and lost just twice – both by a single goal – since Slot was appointed head coach.

However, as they make the trip to Forest, the only other side to have beaten them this term, Van Dijk warned of the need to battle for every inch until May.

“I think it’s the will, it’s the mentality that we have,” the captain said of the resilience on show from the Reds so far in 2024-25.

“You go into a game to try to do everything in your power to win the game and there’s 90-plus minutes to be played, so I think there’s always going to be an opportunity to get back [from losing positions]. We have the quality, we have the players and we have to believe and we have to fight.

“These things don’t happen just by being there, you have to work for it, and I think that’s what we have been doing throughout the whole season consistently. And that’s what we have to do for the rest of the season as well.”

Van Dijk was speaking in a pre-match interview alongside Liverpool and Netherlands teammate Ryan Gravenberch.

The former has, of course, experienced the emotions of the highest successes with the club, lifting the Champions League and FIFA Club World Cup in 2019 and ending the long wait for a Premier League title the following year.

A summer 2023 arrival from Bayern Munich, midfielder Gravenberch has had a taste of trophy joy at the Reds too, in the form of last season’s dramatic Carabao Cup triumph over Chelsea at Wembley.

Asked about the feelings that come with clinching silverware, Van Dijk said: “He [Gravenberch] already knows a little bit how much it would mean if you would win [the Premier League or Champions League]: the celebrations; and all the hard work you put in throughout the whole season would be all worth it.

“I’ve showed him videos of the celebrations that we had [in the past]. It would be an amazing achievement and obviously all your hard work would be more than worth it.

“When we won the Premier League we couldn’t properly celebrate it with our fans unfortunately, but when we won the Champions League we had an amazing party together with the fans, and that’s definitely something you try to do again. So that’s what we aim for.”

Van Dijk continued: “We like playing on the highest levels, playing against the best teams in the world.

“Whether it is in the Champions League or whether it’s with your country, the best nations, you want to be playing teams that are the best or up there. Because you can play against the best players and best managers.

“I think that’s the enjoyable part of it, and it will be hard and the games are tough and difficult, but I think those are the games you enjoy the most.”