{"id":550386,"date":"2025-11-05T09:31:21","date_gmt":"2025-11-05T09:31:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/550386\/"},"modified":"2025-11-05T09:31:21","modified_gmt":"2025-11-05T09:31:21","slug":"virgil-van-dijks-arsenal-confession-and-what-liverpool-really-think-of-title-rivals-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/550386\/","title":{"rendered":"Virgil van Dijk&#8217;s Arsenal confession and what Liverpool really think of title rivals now"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Arsenal have a seven-point lead over Liverpool in the Premier League table heading into the final round of matches before the international break<\/p>\n<p>07:40, 05 Nov 2025Updated 07:42, 05 Nov 2025<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/0_JS386791854.jpg\" alt=\"Virgil van Dijk of Liverpool\" loading=\"eager\"  \/>Virgil van Dijk has referenced Arsenal&#8217;s defensive record(Image: Marc Atkins\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"footballlondon\">Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk pointed to <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.football.london\/arsenal-fc\/\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"Arsenal&#039;s Link opens in a new tab.\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Arsenal&#8217;s <\/a>defensive record as a benchmark for success after their win over <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.football.london\/all-about\/real-madrid\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"Real MadridLink opens in a new tab.\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Real Madrid<\/a> in the Champions League.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"footballlondon\">Both the Gunners and the Merseyside outfit were in <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.football.london\/all-about\/uefa-champions-league\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"Champions LeagueLink opens in a new tab.\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Champions League<\/a> action on Tuesday night, with Arsenal claiming a 3-0 win over Slavia Prague in Prague thanks to a Mikel Merino brace and a <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.football.london\/all-about\/bukayo-saka\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"Bukayo SakaLink opens in a new tab.\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Bukayo Saka<\/a> penalty.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"footballlondon\">Over at Anfield, <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.football.london\/all-about\/liverpool\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"Liverpool Link opens in a new tab.\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Liverpool <\/a>secured all three points with a 1-0 victory over Real thanks to a second-half goal from Alexis Mac Allister.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"footballlondon\">The win also marked a second consecutive clean sheet for Liverpool, while Arsenal have now kept eight in a row thanks to their victory in the Czech Republic.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"footballlondon\">Arsenal still have a seven-point lead over Liverpool in the Premier League table, as well as a six-point advantage over second-placed Manchester City.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"footballlondon\">Speaking after Liverpool&#8217;s win over Real Madrid, Van Dijk confessed he&#8217;s looking at Arsenal&#8217;s defensive record as their own aspiration, making clear how the Liverpool dressing room really feels about their title rivals.<\/p>\n<p>READ MORE: <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.football.london\/arsenal-fc\/news\/mikel-arteta-max-dowman-record-32813116\" data-tmdatatrack=\"read-more\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"32813116\" data-tmdatatrack-source=\"editorial\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mikel Arteta explains why Max Dowman is special after breaking Champions League record<\/a>READ MORE: <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.football.london\/arsenal-fc\/news\/arsenal-handed-huge-suspension-twist-32813027\" data-tmdatatrack=\"read-more\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"32813027\" data-tmdatatrack-source=\"editorial\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Arsenal handed huge suspension twist as key star set to miss Bayern Munich clash<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"footballlondon\">\u201cThat is the basis of success at the moment. I think that you can see that Arsenal are flying and that is down to clean sheets and not conceding chances,&#8221; said Van Dijk in an interview with <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=4Nr-c9sSekE\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Amazon Prime Sport<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"footballlondon\">\u201cI think that\u2019s what we had as well and now what we are trying to do consistently &#8211; start with defending. We have the quality to hurt anyone in possession and on the break.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/0_JS386780785.jpg\" alt=\"Gabriel Magalhaes, Jurrien Timber, Declan Rice, William Saliba and Mikel Merino of Arsenal\" loading=\"lazy\"  \/>Arsenal got their eighth consecutive clean sheet with the win over Slavia Praha(Image: David Price\/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"footballlondon\">\u201cBut it starts with defending and today showed our hard work. Against Villa we didn&#8217;t create too many open [play] chances but we managed to find the win and we have to keep going.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"footballlondon\">\u201cSunday [vs Manchester City] is going to be another difficult one and so we have to be ready for that as well.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/0_Screenshot-2025-11-05-at-073246.png\" alt=\"Virgil van Dijk speaking\" loading=\"lazy\"  \/>Virgil van Dijk was speaking about Arsenal&#8217;s defence after Liverpool&#8217;s win over Real Madrid<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"footballlondon\">This weekend will see the Premier League return for the final round of fixtures before the November international break.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"footballlondon\">Arsenal are scheduled to face Sunderland as they travel to the Stadium of Light on Saturday, before fellow title rivals Liverpool and Manchester City will be going head-to-head at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"footballlondon\">After the international break, Arsenal return with an important game against arch rivals Tottenham Hotspur in the north London derby on November 23.<\/p>\n<p>Arsenal knock up to 60% off kits and merch<\/p>\n<p>This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.football.london\/affiliates\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Learn more<\/a><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0_Untitled-9jpeg.jpg\" alt=\"Content Image\" fetchpriority=\"auto\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Various<\/p>\n<p>Fanatics<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"AffiliateContent_content-buy-btn__xWiVO buy-btn\" aria-label=\"Buy button\" href=\"https:\/\/fanatics.93n6tx.net\/c\/344386\/586570\/9663?subId1=Regionals-football.london&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fanatics.co.uk%2Fen%2Fpremier-league%2Farsenal%2Fo-10428284%2Bt-47633458%2Bz-973-2083826185\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer noopener\">Shop the sale<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Fanatics has slashed the price of Arsenal kits and merch with up to 60% off select items.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Arsenal have a seven-point lead over Liverpool in the Premier League table heading into the final round of&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":550387,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[161,179,79,8467,16,15,1465],"class_list":{"0":"post-550386","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-arsenal","9":"tag-liverpool","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-uefa-champions-league","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-virgil-van-dijk"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115496399379481892","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=550386"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550386\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/550387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=550386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=550386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=550386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}