Virgil van Dijk is backing Darwin Nunez to make a big impact for Liverpool in the final weeks of a season destined to end with the Premier League title but the striker’s work-rate must remain high
Virgil van Dijk is backing Darwin Nunez to make a big impact in Liverpool’s remaining games but the Liverpool captain has reiterated Arne Slot
Reds boss Slot questioned Nunez’s work ethic after his latest shocking miss against Aston Villa a week ago – and then decided to keep the Uruguay international on the bench against Manchester City on Sunday.
But Nunez was back in action during Wednesday’s win against Newcastle, a dress rehearsal of next month’s EFL Cup final at Wembley, and Van Dijk said of players having to put top effort in at all times: “That is the bare minimum that has been asked of the whole squad from day one.
“But that is the bare minimum anyway for playing for Liverpool. It was more down to him and it is still down to him, but I think he showed a great reaction today in his work rate and coming on. That should be the minimum and he knows it.
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“Everyone has a big role to play. I mentioned it last week after Aston Villa. We are all in this together and we need everyone. He is a big part of the team as well and when he comes on, he has to make a positive impact. We have to keep that going.”
Beating Newcastle moved Liverpool 13 points clear of Arsenal, who were unable to find a way past Nottingham Forest at the same time.
But Van Dijk is adamant that Liverpool are not looking towards a title party yet.
The captain added: “There is no ‘almost there.’ There are 10 more games to go for us and nothing is decided. Until anything is decided, we don’t get carried away whatsoever. I’m a bit of a boring guy because I always keep saying ‘on to the next’ and keep calm.
“You have to enjoy winning games but not for too long because we play almost every three days. That is the only thing we have to do: prepare for the next. It was an intense 15 days with lots of intense games and we came out of it pretty well.
“We put ourselves in a very good position but it doesn’t mean anything is done yet. There is no space for complacency.”
Liverpool have the weekend off before travelling to Paris Saint-Germain for the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie next Wednesday.
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