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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Chris McKenna

Virgil van Dijk fires ominous warning at Liverpool teammates ahead of 'tough' clash

Virgil van Dijk hopes Liverpool’s nine-goal demolition of Bournemouth will kick-start their season.

The Reds equalled the Premier League record for a win with the thrashing of the Cherries on Saturday. It came after two disappointing draws against Fulham and Crystal Palace and a disastrous defeat by Manchester United in a shaky start to the campaign.

Now Jurgen Klopp's side take on Newcastle at Anfield on Wednesday and Van Dijk hopes they prove they’re back to their best again. He said: “ It’s going to be a tough game, they’re a good team. The games we played in the last year were tough, they have a good side, a good manager. We will enjoy this for half a day and focus on the next one.

“We all wanted to perform, we all wanted to get results, but you know I don’t like to look back, I like to look forward. It was a good start, a good win, something to build on but it is never guaranteed that we crack on from here. That’s what we want, that is what we work for and that is what we will try to do and it starts on Monday.

"After the [United] game you want to get the next game coming and it was good for us that we only had to wait four days so everyone was motivated. Lucky that we didn’t have any injuries in the week before which was a nice change. Obviously great performance.”

Harvey Elliott scored his first Premier League goal for the Reds in the emphatic win over Scott Parker's side, and admitted Liverpool's player felt the burden of expectation to produce a display after a stuttering start to the season. He said: "I think there was a lot of pressure on us players to go out and put on a performance. We certainly did that, so it's a massive relief. To score five in the first half, it was a dream start for us.

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Harvey Elliott was emotional after scoring his first Premier League goal for Liverpool in the win over Bournemouth (AFP via Getty Images)

"The boys played unbelievably throughout the game. And big congratulations to the young lads as well who have deserved their chance and deserved to be playing – they're the ones that keep us going throughout training. It's massive relief for us and we're just so excited for Wednesday.

"It was the perfect response for us in all fairness to score as many goals as we did, to top off a great win but more importantly get the three points. It's a dream for us and definitely a stepping stone to the next games. We're just going to use it as confidence and motivation to put it right again on Wednesday.

"It's back to the busy stage now. Recovery's very important, we just need to keep on going and use today as motivation but not get too excited about it because Newcastle is another hard game and then Everton as well. We've got hard games and everyone we play in the Premier League is very hard. It's just how we come back and make sure we put on another performance like that.

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