Van Dijk: Man City clash is the game every player wants

Virgil van Dijk has described Sunday's home fixture against Manchester City as the ideal way for Liverpool to restart their 2026-27 Premier League campaign, with the visitors arriving at Anfield as current league leaders.

The Reds return from a three-week international break and face City on Sunday afternoon, with Van Dijk setting the tone in his matchday programme column.

"Our Premier League campaign resumes and, in my opinion, we could not have a better fixture with which to do so," Van Dijk wrote. "After a longer gap than usual between league matches, we are all really looking forward to this game, a big and important test for us against the league leaders."

The Dutch defender acknowledged City's quality while insisting Liverpool would embrace the challenge. "We know the quality that City possess all over the pitch, and we will have to be at our best if we are to get what we want. It is a big challenge, but it is one we will relish. These are the games every player looks forward to, for sure."

Van Dijk pointed to Liverpool's win at Bournemouth before the break as evidence of the team's developing character. "We stuck together, we defended well as a team and we worked extremely hard to secure the three points, in what is always a really tough away game."

The centre-back stressed that finding consistency remains the squad's primary objective. "The next step, and the key step, is to find that level of consistency," he said, adding that competing for everything is "not a pressure, it's a privilege" at Liverpool.