Virgil van Dijk sends emphatic Man Utd message as Liverpool return to scene of recent 'hurt'

Virgil van Dijk says Liverpool will use the "hurt" of last month's FA Cup defeat at Manchester United to fuel their Premier League title quest when they return to Old Trafford this weekend.

And the Liverpool captain believes the Reds' luck on the injury front is finally starting to turn as Diogo Jota, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Alisson Becker all close in on their respective comebacks next week.

Liverpool head into the weekend's fixtures as Premier League leaders after Thursday night's 3-1 win over Sheffield United but face what is expected to be one of the toughest of their eight remaining fixtures when they are hosted by fierce rivals United on Sunday afternoon.

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The Reds were beaten in Manchester less than a month ago as they bowed out of the FA Cup at the quarter-final stage following a 4-3 loss after extra time and Van Dijk says the pain of that last-gasp defeat still lingers as the Reds skipper called upon his colleagues to channel that in the right way on Sunday.

"Of course it is still fresh, it was very disappointing, losing is never good," Van Dijk said. "Especially the way we lost that day, it's something that hurt in the 24 hours after the game.

"You want to go to Wembley, you want to go and play that semi-final, but we had to quickly switch to the national team. But the focus now will be on recovery and what we have to do better against them because it will be a big challenge again.

"What do we need to do better? Win the game! They started the game well and got the crowd behind them and it gave them a push. Conceding the goal