Virgil van Dijk fires warning to Liverpool title rivals

Virgil van Dijk has fired a warning to Liverpool's Premier League title rivals this season.

The Reds narrowly missed out on league glory last season, amassing 97 points but still finishing second behind Manchester City, who picked up 98.

However, Jurgen Klopp's side have picked up four wins from their first four games, while City were held to a 2-2 draw against Tottenham Hotspur and so sit two points behind Liverpool in second.

Having come so close last term, Van Dijk is hoping his side can go on a winning run as they face a busy period of seven fixtures in less than a month.

"We want to keep going – and we want to win every game that is ahead of us now. There are seven games before the next international break. We want to win any match, and so seven wins is the target. That's what we have to try and do," Van Dijk told The Mirror.

"It is very hard to say whether the same points total as last season would be enough this time. If you win your games, that is the only way to think. We know exactly how good Manchester City will be in the Premier League again this season.

"But there also the other competitions where we can look to have success. The next few weeks we will be playing Saturday/Tuesday almost all the time. And there are some tough games. We have Chelsea away, and Napoli away in Europe. The League Cup is never easy. So we know how tough it is going to be, both this next period and the rest of the season. But we have the mentality and the players to win every game ahead of us."

Van Dijk won the UEFA Men's Player of the Year award ahead of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo recently and is in the running to claim the Ballon d'Or as well.

Should he do so, he would be the first defender to pick up the prize since Fabio Cannavaro won it in 2006.