Virgil van Dijk looking for Liverpool to prove a point in FA Cup
By Carl Markham, Press Association
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk insisted they intend to use the FA Cup to prove a point and will not under-estimate Barnsley.
Arne Slot’s side earned a creditable goalless draw at Premier League leaders Arsenal on Thursday as they extended their unbeaten run to 10 matches.
Most pundits had given them little chance of avoiding defeat at the Emirates as despite not losing since November the team have been far from convincing.
But having enjoyed the better of the second half Van Dijk is keen for them to start rebuilding their reputation.
“I am really looking forward to the FA Cup, and the Champions League too,” he said.
“There are still a lot of games to play and a lot of opportunities to go out and show why we are Liverpool and why we are the reigning champions.
“Any competition is important, but definitely the FA Cup is important. Barnsley will come to us on Monday and I am looking forward to that game.
“They will try everything in order to get through, and we have to be ready for a big fight and the chances to finish them off.”
The last time Barnsley went to Anfield, then as a Championship team in 2008, they stunned Liverpool with Brian Howard scoring a 90th-minute winner.
They return 17th in League One having lost four of their last six matches and the test for Slot will be not only to win but win convincingly after accepting their recent games have not been very exciting.
The Dutchman was slightly puzzled as to why they received so much praise for the draw against Arsenal.
“I am a bit surprised that people think this is a good performance because when we have 60 or 70 per cent ball possession against other teams people find it boring and now it is a good performance,” he said.
“But again we hardly created a chance and now we say, ‘What a performance’. This is who were are – we can dominate possession, we know how to do build-up, but we struggle, obviously, in a few things.
“Set-pieces are one of them, dominating moments when we are in the final third, to find the right pass and the right execution, that is something that is still not at the level some other teams are and that’s why we are working every single day.
“Yes we did really well in ball possession but for me it wasn’t that much different than playing Leeds at home or Fulham away, where we dominated ball possession as well.
“But then people are annoyed that these teams are not of the magnitude of Arsenal it is not good enough, which I completely agree on, by the way, because I want to see us creating more chances as well.”
Slot will hope to have striker Hugo Ekitike back after the France international missed the last two matches with a hamstring problem.
