Virgil van Dijk insists Liverpool can handle ‘twists and turns’ in title run-in | OneFootball

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk is confident they can handle the nerves as the Premier League title race heats up.

The 2-1 victory over Wolves may have restored the leaders’ seven-point lead over Arsenal but the second half, and final 25 minutes in particular, did not make for comfortable viewing for Reds fans.

What should have been a straightforward win after goals from Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah turned into a nail-biter once the latter had a second ruled out for offside and then Matheus Cunha curled home.

After Wednesday’s concession of an equaliser in the eighth minute of added time in Goodison Park’s final Merseyside derby there was a palpable air of anxiety.

Van Dijk understood the frustration and said: “Get a grip? Yeah, well it is easier to say than actually do. We are all human beings and I totally understand anxiety or nervousness can kick in.

“I said it weeks ago, we just have to buckle up, enjoy the ride. There will be a lot of twists and turns.

“If you’re not ready for it – and we have been there already – it will be a difficult couple of months for you but I feel like we as a team are ready for it.

“We will give it everything we’ve got and we will see in 13 games if that is enough.

“It is all about game-by-game and not looking at others as we have no influence on other teams or other situations.”

If you're not ready for it it will be a difficult couple of months for you but I feel like we as a team are ready for it

Virgil van Dijk

Liverpool may not be able to directly affect their title rivals but they have a chance to strike a significant psychological blow at Aston Villa on Wednesday where they could stretch their advantage into double figures.

However, Van Dijk has experience of having a 10-point lead, albeit at an earlier stage of the season, and still not winning the league and will warn the squad against not getting ahead of themselves.

In January 2019 Liverpool had a similar-sized cushion over Manchester City, who did have a match in hand, when they lost at the Etihad Stadium as Pep Guardiola’s side won 18 of their last 19 matches with the Reds finishing second by a point with a record tally of 97.

So the prospect of going 10 clear again at Villa Park, even though Arsenal will have only 13 games in which to respond, is not something which animates Van Dijk.

“I don’t know how others would think, I can only say what I think and what I tell the boys to do because I’ve been through this whole situation and come up short as well twice,” he said.

“The only thing you have to do is just focus on us, let’s try to win every game ahead of us and if we do that then obviously we have success.

“We have to put all our energy in only ourselves and that is hard enough already – you saw how Wolves made it difficult for us and on Wednesday it will be very difficult again.

“If you focus on other things or look at others it is only going to backfire so we keep going.

“Certain players in our team might watch other teams but it is not going to help you.

“We have to keep winning, keep putting three points on the board, no matter what.

“I think that was also the mentality the season we won it (2020): we kept going, kept going and we found a way.”

Meanwhile, Liverpool have frozen ticket prices for the eighth time in 10 years after in-depth consultation with fans.

After “meaningful engagement” with the Supporters Board and 62,000 responses to a ticketing survey, the club will hold next season’s prices at current levels.

That means the cheapest ticket on the Kop remains £39 with the most expensive £45 – the same as they were when Fenway Sports Group first set ticket prices after taking ownership of the club in October 2010 – with the priciest general admission ticket elsewhere in the ground £61, which has increased by 27 per cent over the same period.