'I am fully convinced' - Virgil van Dijk sends 'amazing' message as Liverpool 'intensity' explained

'I am fully convinced' - Virgil van Dijk sends 'amazing' message as Liverpool 'intensity' explained

Virgil van Dijk believes victory in next month's Carabao Cup final will not necessarily boost Liverpool's aims of winning the Premier League

Virgil van Dijk looks on during the Carabao Cup Semi Final Second Leg match between Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield on February 06, 2025 (Image: Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images )

Virgil van Dijk believes victory in next month's Carabao Cup final will not necessarily boost Liverpool's aims of winning the Premier League as the captain called on his team-mates to stay grounded. And the club skipper, who scored the fourth in Thursday's 4-0 semi-final win over Tottenham, expects both sets of supporters to contribute towards a memorable occasion when the holders meet Newcastle United in the Wembley showpiece on March 16.

A convincing display at Anfield made the 1-0 loss from the first leg at Spurs last month an irrelevance as goals from Cody Gakpo, Mohamed Salah, Dominik Szoboszlai and Van Dijk saw off the visitors and set up a first final for Arne Slot as head coach on Merseyside.

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Liverpool triumphed in the same competition 12 months ago when Van Dijk scored an extra-time header to beat Chelsea 1-0 but the chance to use that as a platform for further success for the remainder of the campaign was not taken as the Reds ended up third and out of the Europa League and FA Cups at the quarter-final stages.

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"First and foremost another trip to Wembley with our friends, family, team and against a very good, intense Newcastle United," Van Dijk says. "So when the time is there, we will focus on the big final.

"Listen I think you have to bring intensity to the game, put them in uncomfortable positions at times because we know they want to play out, they will find sometimes a free man in the middle so we had to make up with a lot of intensity and running and I think we did well.

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"Obviously there were a couple of moments where the game were interrupted in the first half an hour, I think, so we couldn't keep the momentum. Overall, I think we did very well and I am very proud of boys.

"[Winning the competition] last year didn't help [for the rest of the season]. You try to win each and every game like so hopefully it will be different but you saw last year we couldn't get the job done and the other two [teams] were much better in the end.

"But we have put ourselves in a good position, physically, mentally, points-wise, and with the games that we have, we should not not at all get carried away. We just stay calm and that's what we have to do.

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"We were in four competitions this time last year, no? I think there is a new regime and the manager is doing some things differently than what Jurgen did. What Jurgen did was very successful and hopefully the manager what he implements to us will be successful as well.

"We have put ourselves in a very good position but we are in February and I'm definitely not thinking what could be there, either after March 16 or end of May. We just, focus on the next one, the next one, and then we'll see.

“I think it's important for everyone because we work so hard each and every day in order to get success and obviously to participate in every competition to try and win it, at least that's what we do as a club and from the outside world, from our friends and we as well are expected to do, compete until the very last most day.

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"We know how difficult it is but we are in a very good position. Obviously last year when we went into the final we had a lot of injuries so hopefully we can get everyone fit to play a part in trying to win a very difficult game that we have to play. Up until then we stay calm, keep working hard and focus on ourselves, focus on the next game ahead of us."

Head coach Slot confirmed on Wednesday that he had never been to Wembley during his career and Van Dijk says his boss will be in for a special afternoon when the Reds meet the Magpies next month.

He added: “He will enjoy it then! It's an amazing, amazing place to play a final and I think to play football anyway, it is such a big stadium. I am fully convinced that both teams, both clubs fans will will make it into an amazing atmosphere.

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"You have to embrace it and try to do everything in our power to win the game and that's what we're going to focus on when the time is there.

"I felt like if we put the intensity up high then I wouldn't have been surprised if we scored at least one and then the second. We had to be sharp in terms of defending, trying to keep the clean sheet and not get dragged into open spaces, one v ones. I think we did that very well. We limited them to a couple of shots but overall we did very well. Proud of the boys to get to a final again."

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