Virgil van Dijk admits that 'anything can happen' when the Premier League returns after the World Cup this winter.
The English top-flight is set for an unprecedented period over the next two months, with teams undertaking a six-week hiatus from league football as players head to Qatar for the first ever winter World Cup. Fixture schedules over the past few months have already been condensed to a near-unmanageable scale, particularly for the likes of Liverpool and others competing in Europe on a weekly basis.
Van Dijk enjoyed one of his more commanding performances of the season in Tuesday night's 2-0 win at home to Napoli, but he and his teammates have been some way off the pace domestically, with consecutive defeats against Nottingham Forest and Leeds United a low point.
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Those results see Jurgen Klopp's side in ninth, eight points short of Newcastle United in fourth and a whopping 15 points off Arsenal at the top. Consistency has been a massive problem during the first third of the campaign, with Liverpool unable to capitalise on encouraging wins against Bournemouth and Manchester City.
However, speaking after Tuesday's win over Napoli, van Dijk admitted that 'anything can happen' in this most unusual of seasons, with different teams experiencing completely different problems over the next couple of months.
“We try to find [consistency] but it's quite difficult with everything that's going on, playing three game in six days," van Dijk said. "But we have three more games until the World Cup and then obviously some players will go to the World Cup and a lot will stay and work behind the scenes, play friendlies, get rest and be fully focused on what's coming after the World Cup.
“It's definitely a different first part of the season so anything can happen after the World Cup in my opinion. We try to finish as good as we can and then focus personally on the World Cup.”
With Liverpool having already played 22 games by the time they break for the tournament - it would have bee 24 but for postponements - it would be fair to expect an opportunity for players going to the World Cup to rest. That is not the case in England however, with anyone featuring in the December 18 final enjoying just eight days before Boxing Day football.
Van Dijk admitted he is hoping to captain his Netherlands side out in that final during his first ever major tournament, but the 31-year-old hinted at a 'little break' once he and others return from Qatar.
"Yeah," he bluntly responded when asked if he will need a rest. "It depends how long, hopefully we [the Netherlands] reach the final and win it but you don’t know. We’ll definitely need a little break and we’ll probably get a little break as well. For me personally, I have three, probably two more games to play and then full focus will be on Holland and to do as well as I can for my country."
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