Virgil van Dijk refuses to rule out Liverpool’s title chances despite sitting FIFTEEN points behind

Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk hasn’t ruled anything out in this ‘crazy’ season as he looks to make up for his World Cup disappointment.

The Netherlands captain said his country’s quarter-final elimination on penalties at the hands of eventual winners Argentina has fueled his desire to succeed for his club.

After the Reds’ Carabao Cup defense ended at Manchester City just before Christmas, a fourth successive Premier League win, over Leicester on Friday, has brought Jurgen Klopp’s previously faltering side to six points from third-placed Newcastle with one match to go.

However, they are 15 points behind leaders Arsenal and while Van Dijk accepts that a title charge is not currently in his sights, there is plenty to play for 2023 as the race for La Liga qualification heats up. of Champions.

And after his disappointment in Qatar, his first major tournament, the Dutchman is determined to improve Liverpool’s fortunes.

‘Obviously I had time to reflect. In the end things were disappointing for us, that’s part of football too and I know it,” said Van Dijk, who is celebrating his five-year anniversary at Anfield ahead of the trip to Brentford.

I’ve lost enough already, so it was a tough couple of days, but then it was about getting back to the more important things in life: my wife and kids, so that was the case.

‘It feeds me either way because I want to be successful with the Netherlands, but it also motivated me here.

We are quite a few points behind Arsenal, but the season could be very crazy, very strange.

But we have to be realistic and we are not thinking about the title at the moment.

“We have to focus on the game ahead, win games and then we’ll see.” I am always motivated, I always want to win and I give my all in each and every game.

Having notched victory over Leicester, Liverpool will be boosted by the return of midfielder Fabinho, who missed the match to be at the birth of his first child.

New striker Cody Gakpo could technically be involved if his transfer paperwork is completed on time, but he is more likely to feature in the FA Cup next weekend.

Klopp hasn’t ruled out further signings now that the window is open, but it currently looks unlikely and the manager admits they have to raise some cash before any further deals can be made.

‘I’ve been here for seven years and all the windows are pretty much the same; we talk about these things as if money doesn’t play a role,” Klopp said.

It’s never like that. We sign a standout player like Cody Gakpo and then you read about the next player.

‘We can’t play like Monopoly. Of course we can’t just spend and we never could.

‘It’s a big part of my philosophy, to work with faith and trust with the players we have and not constantly tell them we need another player in the position.

“Obviously you need real quality at every position and two teams at the same level that you can rotate, but people are surprised when we say we can’t start spending money.”

“If there’s anything we can do and that means the right player and the right financial situation, we’ll do it.”

Asked if any of his fringe players could be offloaded, he added: “That’s a different situation, I don’t know.”

“No one came to me and asked me to leave the club, if that was the case then I would listen, but no one has come yet.”