11 November 2023 , 19:35
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Virgil van Dijk has called on Liverpool's forward players to be more ruthless in the wake of disappointing results against Luton Town and Toulouse.
The Reds host Brentford at Anfield on Sunday after falling to a shock defeat against Toulouse in midweek; a loss which came just days after they left it late to salvage a point against one of the Premier League's struggling sides at Kenilworth Road.
Despite those results, Liverpool have enjoyed a successful start to the 2023/24 campaign after some smart recruitment in the summer transfer window. Much like Jurgen Klopp, Van Dijk is enthused by Liverpool 2.0's potential - and he is adamant that there is still plenty more to come from a team which are still finding their feet.
Speaking in his programme notes ahead of Sunday's match against Brentford, Van Dijk assessed the start to the season and wrote: “There are definitely areas for improvement - individually and collectively - but this is totally normal, especially having made so many changes during the summer.”
He added: “What we have shown more than anything else is that we are all in it together. There have been moments where it has not been easy and games that could easily have gotten away from us, but more often than not we have found a way to get a positive result and this is something that we can definitely build on going forward.”
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The Dutchman, who was named Liverpool captain in the summer, then turned his attention to the Reds' forwards, urging them to showcase their ruthless streak after a disappointing week on the road.
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Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk wants his team-mates to be more ruthless in front of goal (The Overlap)“We definitely need to be more ruthless with the chances we create. There are some good things that you want to keep and some parts that aren’t yet at the required standard – so we will keep on working, keep on looking to make the improvements that are necessary and keep on doing the best that we possibly can for this club.”
Liverpool head into Sunday's game knowing that a win would, potentially, put them level on points with Arsenal and Manchester City at the summit of the Premier League pending the latter's own result.
While Van Dijk wants Liverpool's forwards to be more ruthless against Brentford, Klopp called for his side to show more "aggression" at the weekend following their setback in France.
Speaking after the Toulouse defeat, he said: “We cannot have what happened in Toulouse. We were not aggressive enough. If we are thinking we need Anfield, Brentford will come and they will be physical… we have to be ready. I want us to learn from this. We can lose a game. But we have to use it to learn the right things.”