Virgil van Dijk has made a curious admission about the games that Liverpool have played against Tottenham this season and has revealed what the feeling is inside the Reds camp ahead of what could be a title-clinching game against the Lilywhites next week.
Tottenham Hotspur have nothing but pride to play for in the Premier League this season, and the club’s main focus at the moment will be on the Europa League as they look to create history by winning their first trophy in 17 years.
The league games left are thus an opportunity for Postecoglou to hand minutes to other squad players as the Australian would understandably be keen to wrap his key men in cotton wool.
He did that in the 2-1 loss to Nottingham Forest by withdrawing both Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven at the interval.
Virgil van Dijk makes admission about facing Tottenham
Arne Slot’s men have handed Spurs some of their biggest defeats of the campaign, beating them 4-0 in the second leg of the Carabao Cup semifinal in February and handing them a 6-3 loss in the reverse fixture back in December of last year.
Liverpool are currently 13 points clear at the top of the table, which means that another win over Tottenham at Anfield next Sunday will see them be officially crowned Champions.
However, Van Dijk is not taking Spurs lightly, with the Dutchman insisting that he and his teammates have had difficulty coping with the Lilywhites’ intensity this season.
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The Liverpool captain told Optus Sport: “Now we have a chance to finish it on the weekend against a very good Tottenham Hotspur in my opinion. We played already three times against them this season and every game is very intense.
“We’ve got a week to prepare, if anything happens on Wednesday, happy days, if not, then we have to finish it off and we’ve got to be at our best to do that and that’ll be our main focus. We still have a big game on the weekend.”
Liverpool players will be far more motivated than Spurs
The motivation levels of the two teams could not be any different heading into the game at Anfield next Sunday.
The Tottenham players know that they have nothing but pride to play for and will want to avoid injuries ahead of their big semifinals and potentially a final.
In stark contrast, the Liverpool stars will be keen to ensure that they lift the league trophy in front of their home fans.