Virgil van Dijk says anyone that has given up on the title race should 'stay home' as Liverpool look to close the gap to Manchester City. The Reds can reduce the deficit to just one point if they win their game in hand against Arsenal this evening.
Pep Guardiola's side only managed a 0-0 draw against Crystal Palace on Monday night, but Liverpool must continue to pile on the pressure and win at the Emirates. However, Van Dijk has insisted closing the gap doesn't alter their thinking heading into the game.
"No, personally - and, again, I can only speak for myself - but I don't think so," he told liverpoolfc.com. "I think I said months ago that if anyone is giving up on the title and doesn't believe in it then they should stay home.
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"Anything can still happen, there are still many games to play regardless of the outcome of our games. I can only promise that we will give everything until the end of the season and if that's enough, we're going to have a big party and if it's not, we'll try again next year."
After winning the Carabao Cup last month, with a dramatic penalty shootout victory over Chelsea in the final, talk surrounding a potential quadruple has dominated the headlines. The title is still in reach, Liverpool are in a Champions League quarter-final and they can progress to the semi-finals of the FA Cup if they beat Nottingham Forest this weekend.
The Dutchman says it's not difficult to block out the external noise from the media and cites experience from the last few seasons as a key reason they're able to maintain focus.
He continued: "I feel like it's all a trap because if the outside world wants to see you saying all these things, then it can come back to haunt you. We've learned over the last few seasons how to deal with these situations and at the moment we're just taking it game by game.
"We have to win our games anyway to be able to get more trophies at the end of the season and in order to do that, you have to focus on what's ahead of you. Today it is tonight's game and then we will see what is happening after that."
