Former Liverpool star Emile Heskey has echoed Virgil van Dijk's comments about the Reds' confidence.
Jurgen Klopp's team take on Manchester City in the Premier League on Sunday with a 13-point gap to the team who pipped them to the title last season. Klopp has already admitted his team are out of the running for this year's title, though they have strengthened their claim to be considered contenders for the Champions League.
Van Dijk spoke about the drop in confidence after a defeat at Arsenal left the Merseyside club with just 10 points from eight games. While a 7-1 win at Rangers in midweek will have helped restore some pride, Heskey - who won trophies with the club in the early 2000s - remains concerned.
"Confidence is definitely a thing that plays a part but you know, we are all human beings and sometimes you need a bit of confidence in certain moments and it could also if your confidence is not as high not help you in situations," Van Dijk told Sky Sports last weekend. Liverpool twice came from behind to level things up against Arsenal, only for Bukayo Saka's second-half penalty to decide the tie.
Speaking exclusively to Mirror Football courtesy of Gambling.com, Heskey shared the Dutchman's concerned. Liverpool got off to a slow start in the league, winning none of their first three matches, and have struggled to make up ground on the front-runners since.
"Liverpool's struggles this season are apparent to everyone," the former England striker said. "The fascinating thing is, you can have the best players and be the best team in the world, but if you don't get off to a good start your confidence will get knocked and you will need to pick each other up again.
"That's what is happening at Liverpool. Obviously, they got a brilliant win on Wednesday. I thought Rangers could have done better, but you'd take it wouldn't you? It was a great result for them to then go into such a massive game, because this game with Manchester City on Sunday is huge."
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Liverpool's victory in Glasgow on Wednesday night was their third in four Champions League group games. If they avoid defeat away to Ajax in their next game then they will be assured of a last-16 spot, but top spot in the group may be a tougher ask thanks to the 4-1 defeat at Napoli in their opening game.
It does allow the Reds to focus more of their attentions on the league. As well as the big gap to City and league leaders Arsenal. Klopp's team are six points adrift of a Champions League spot after right matched.
"When you are looking at the way Liverpool are defending at this moment in time, this is going to be a very tough game for them," Heskey continued. Liverpool have already dropped almost as many points as they did in the entire 2019-20 season, when they won the league, and there are 30 games left to go for Klopp's side..
"They are still going to be 11 or so points behind Arsenal if they win. Liverpool still have a massive hill to climb if they win, because even if City lose on Sunday, you can't see them dropping too many more points along the way. When you look at it, Liverpool's plan this season is going to be getting in the top four now, but in my eyes two of those spaces are gone already,"
