Liverpool won’t get too cocky ahead of a potentially season-defining clash with Real Madrid in the Champions League, though there’s no question that two wins on the bounce will have done wonders for the confidence
Jurgen Klopp’s men are remarkably the only side to have beaten Newcastle in the Premier League (with the Magpies’ last defeat coming against the Reds), with Virgil van Dijk suggesting that the feat came down to a matter of mentality.
“There’s a reason that we’re the only team so far this season to have beaten them,” the Dutchman told Sky Sports.
“I’m very proud of the boys. Now’s the time to recover, quick turnaround and then we focus on Real Madrid.
“Obviously, it’s a bit of a… I won’t say a mind game, but when you play against 10 men, sometimes the slopiness creeps in, as you have the ball a bit more.
“You play a lot of passes and have to try and do the same things but it’s difficult.
“We can analyse what we want but we have had a difficult season so far and to win here, to be the only team that beat them this season, we can be proud. We take it and move on and hopefully, step by step, we keep going with the good performances.”
The Merseysiders’ latest victory takes them up eighth in the top-flight table, cutting down the gap to Eddie Howe’s men to six points (with a game in hand left to play).
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It’s a promising picture overall in the league, though we’d imagine that the manager will be most excited by the potential return of his side’s elite focus, which once inspired him to dub his squad ‘mentality monsters’.
Coming up against the Champions League holders, we’ll need every bit of lethality shown in the first 45 minutes of action at St. James’ Park to get through unscathed but progressing to the quarter-finals could rely entirely on how we mentally approach the fixture.
If we can manage to secure another win against Los Blancos, the potential boost in momentum we’ll receive can’t be overlooked in a season where we’ve struggled to string a run of positive results together.
You can catch the clip below, courtesy of Sky Sports:
"It's starting to look like a Liverpool team" ⏳
Liverpool duo Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold reflect on a 'massive' win against Newcastle 🔴 pic.twitter.com/JRBSbIgY9S
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) February 18, 2023
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