Virgil van Dijk sends timely warning to Liverpool teammates amid Arsenal and Man City title race

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk has called on his teammates to show calmness in the Premier League title race with Arsenal and Man City. The Reds are currently top of the league with 57 points, with the Gunners and City on 55 and 53 points respectively.

With three months of the season left, Van Dijk believes «anything can happen» between now and May 19. Speaking to Liverpool's official website, the Dutch centre-back said: «Calmness is the most difficult thing to have if you are under a lot of pressure or being rushed. That is the big message. You have to stay calm, however difficult.

“What is the trick of staying calm? It is to enjoy your football. You have to expect difficulties. We play in the Premier League, we play against difficult teams who want to hurt you and want to kick you off from first place. We have to be ready to suffer. We are not a perfect team but we have to keep going.

“[Last season] Arsenal were pushing until the very end, almost. Obviously we have been there [before]. It is a very, very difficult league. You are playing against teams like City or Arsenal who have so much quality so anything can happen. You have to win each game that is in front of you and by the looks of things, that will definitely be needed.”

Van Dijk also praised goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher for his performance in Liverpool's 4-1 win over Brentford on Saturday. Kelleher, who was filling in for Alisson Becker, made several excellent saves in west London.

Despite also losing Curtis Jones, Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez to fitness concerns before the start of the second half, Liverpool managed to come away with all three points from the Gtech Community Stadium. “I always said that he is a world-class goalkeeper,” Van Dijk said of Kelleher.