29 September 2023 , 06:49
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Micky van de Ven has heaped praise on "unbelievable" Virgil van Dijk as he prepares to go head-to-head against his Netherlands team-mate this weekend.
Van de Ven's Tottenham take on Van Dijk's Liverpool in the Premier League on Saturday as two of the four remaining unbeaten teams lock horns in north London. Manchester City and Arsenal are the other sides who have not lost any of their opening six top-flight matches.
Spurs have made a fine start under new boss Ange Postecoglou and have picked up 14 points from a possible 18 following last weekend's 2-2 draw in the north London derby. Meanwhile, Liverpool sit second and have won their last five league games after the opening day 2-2 draw at Chelsea.
Speaking ahead of this side's game against Liverpool, Van de Ven admitted Tottenham should not fear Liverpool and also hailed international colleague Van Dijk. "I am really looking forward to seeing the fans again in the stadium and they will make it a good game from us," Van de Ven told PA.
"We are going to play our own way and play like we want to play. We don't have fear for Liverpool. I think Virgil was the last couple of years and this year also one of the best defenders in the Premier League, for sure.
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"The year they grabbed the title he was unbelievable and showed how important he is for Liverpool. He shows how important he is the last couple of years.
"Yeah, that is my ambition to be one of the best centre-backs in the Premier League and I will work hard for it to make it happen, but I just started so hopefully I can be there in I don't know how many years."
Micky van de Ven has impressed for Tottenham since making the big-money move from Wolfsburg in the summer (Getty Images)Tottenham underwent a change in style over the summer after Postecoglou was appointed as the club's new boss. He has instilled a fast-paced, attacking approach which has excited the Spurs faithful, despite losing Harry Kane to Bayern Munich two days before their opening weekend trip to Brentford.
However, that hasn't seemed to effect Tottenham at all, with Son Heung-min back to his best and James Maddison impressing in the no.10 role since his move from Leicester. Brennan Johnson arrived from Nottingham Forest for £47.5m on deadline day, while Manor Soloman also bolstered Spurs' attacking options.
Defensively, Tottenham have improved, too, with Cristian Romero and Van de Ven forming a solid partnership at the back, while full-backs Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie have adapted well to Postecoglou's new system.
"It is true (for Tottenham) because what I saw before I joined Spurs was that people were really negative about Spurs," Van de Ven added.
"Of course, Kane was maybe going to leave and he scored every year 30+ goals, so yeah amazing striker, but we were there to prove them wrong. I think we are doing good now, but it is just the beginning. We need to keep pushing. We want to be at the highest level all season, so I don’t know where it will end but we want the best."