Reaction from Virgil van Dijk after Liverpool beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 in London on Saturday
Virgil van Dijk says everyone at Liverpool is targeting a strong end to 2025 after the 2-1 win at Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday moved them up to fifth in the Premier League.
After Xavi Simons was sent off in the first half, strikes from Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike after the break put the visitors in control before a late effort from Richarlison set up a tense finish.
Thomas Frank's Spurs continued to push for an equaliser even after Cristian Romero was also sent off for kicking out at Ibrahima Konate but Arne Slot's men held on to go six games unbeaten.
Liverpool entertain rock-bottom Wolves next at Anfield on December 27 before another home fixture with Leeds United on New Year's Day and Reds skipper Van Dijk has called on the club to finish the calendar year in style.
"The aim is to try to win every game ahead of us," Van Dijk said. "Unfortunately this season has had a lot of difficult moments in terms of results and performances as well.
"But all we can try to do is get better. We're at a club where we have a lot of opportunities to show what we can do. Now we focus on Christmas and being with the family, and then focus on Wolves. "Winning more, getting results, is always positive. Losing games, especially at a club like Liverpool, is always bad. For us it's about staying calm. Taking each game as it comes. Today we won. Now we have a couple of days off. "We will recover and then we will focus on Wolves. It will be a tough game. I saw their game against Spurs. Wolves will make it difficult for us and we have to be ready for that. First we have Christmas. Being with your family and being healthy are the most important things in life. "The immediate reaction coming off was that it was a chaotic last five to 10 minutes. It wasn't great but to get the three points is massive. There was nothing wrong up to us conceding a goal. We need to analyse the last part but personally I'm very pleased and it's on to the next one. "When you concede a goal and their fans get behind them like they did, it's never easy to make the right decisions and find the right solutions.
"That's something we can improve but I don't think it's worrying. It's a transition and we need to keep getting better. [The ending of the game] is something we will discuss within the squad." On Isak, who is now sweating on the severity of an injury after being forced off with the aid of the physios after being caught by Micky van den Ven when scoring the opening goal, Van Dijk added: "Injuries unfortunately are part of football and hopefully with Alex it's not too bad. "He scored a great goal. It's too soon after the game to know (the extent of it). He will need to be assessed. Hopefully the injuries won't be too bad. We all saw how bad it looked with Alex but hopefully it won't be too bad."
Van Dijk, who was part of a Liverpool contingent who got together for a Christmas meal in London on Saturday night, was caught on the Achilles by his Netherlands international colleague Simons after around half an hour and after referee John Brooks checked with the pitch-side monitor, the initial yellow card was upgraded to red.
"I don't think there was any intention to hurt me but obviously he hurt me and then the referee and the VAR made the decision to send him off," Van Dijk added. "Yeah I spoke to him [after the game]. It's a chat that no-one needs to know."