Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk hopes the composure he displays on and off the pitch can help get his team over the line in the title race.

The Netherlands centre-back’s coolness under pressure is one of his trademarks but since taking over the captaincy from Jordan Henderson in the summer he has tried to instil that across the squad.

Results so far suggest it is working as they head into the final eight matches of the season with a two-point lead at the top of the table following their 3-1 win over Sheffield United.

“The calmness I want in life personally – trying not to stress about the small things that shouldn’t have an influence on your state of mind – is something I try to implement in the group,” the 32-year-old, speaking at the launch of this year’s McDonald’s Fun Football programme which provides half a million children the chance to play football for free in 2024, told the PA news agency.

“Try to focus on where we have influence and that is our performances. I know I have a big role.

“I’m quite vocal but it’s more I’d rather have a good atmosphere outside the pitch, I want everyone to feel comfortable and feel happy and express themselves in the best way possible because then you can get the best out of everyone.

“That standard has been set over the last few years with our previous captain, who was outstanding, but obviously I do it my own way.

“The responsibility I have to the club goes around the world and I won’t take that for granted because it’s a special situation for myself to be captain of Liverpool.”

But Van Dijk’s calmness should not be mistaken for being laid back.

Behind the ease with which he often patrols the pitch is a winning mentality honed in childhood means any defeat still feels “horrible”.

As a youngster he would get angry if he lost so much as a tackle and he has channelled that to propel him to become one of the best defenders in the world.

Questions were asked about whether he would regain his best form following ACL surgery in 2020 and those intensified during the team’s struggles last season on their way to a fifth-placed finish but displays in the current campaign have proved the doubters wrong.

As he prepares to return to Old Trafford three weeks after an FA Cup exit to Manchester United, Van Dijk said the drive to win remains as strong as ever even if setbacks like last month remain painful.

“Horrible,” said the 32-year-old of how defeats feel. “It didn’t happen too many times this year but, still, I’m a winner.

“Even when I was the age of these kids if I lost a challenge or a game I could definitely be angry about it – but that is also something good.

“You need to make sure have that mentality and it is needed to get to the top and stay at the top.”

Having lifted his first trophy as Liverpool captain, Van Dijk will have a major role to play in the bid to add the Premier League and Europa League to February’s Carabao Cup win.

“It’s getting exciting. If you thought about a year ago, in a bit of transition, and where we are right now and what we have achieved so far this season everyone would have taken it with both hands,” he added.

“Two months left: there will be moments of nervousness, there will be games where we are struggling but it is about never giving up and enjoying every moment of it.

“Every team in the league would love to be in the position we are and that’s something you have to remind yourself.

“These are the times you want to be a football player: to win that (Premier League) again would be absolutely unbelievable, especially after the season we had last year.

“We have a big one at the weekend, then the chaos starts again with those games coming thick and fast.”

:: Virgil van Dijk was celebrating the launch of this year’s McDonald’s Fun Football programme, available to all children aged 5-11 across the UK. Sign up now for your nearest FREE session at mcdonalds.co.uk/football.


Mikel Arteta predicted Bukayo Saka will “fly” during Arsenal’s Premier League run-in but the England winger could be a doubt to face Brighton on Saturday.

The 22-year-old missed his side’s 2-0 win over Luton on Wednesday that briefly returned them to the top of the table before being knocked back into second by Liverpool ahead of the weekend’s visit to the Amex Stadium.

A muscle injury sustained during the goalless draw at Manchester City meant Saka missed a league game for just the second time this season, with Reiss Nelson deputising as Arteta’s side made it nine wins from their last 10 in the title race.

Saka has scored 16 goals in all competitions as Arsenal seek to erase the disappointment of missing out on the Premier League title last term by pipping Liverpool and Manchester City this time around.

“I’m super positive,” Arteta said of Saka’s prospects of making a decisive impact. “I think he’s going to fly and be so decisive.

“He’s so strong, how much he wants it. How excited he is about what is coming. He wants to be there, and he’s getting better and better.

“It’s normal to have little niggles, you have kicks. He’s gone through a lot of that in the last two or three years, and look at the way he is performing.”

Arteta gave a third start of the season to Emile Smith Rowe against Luton.

Injuries have badly disrupted the development of the 23-year-old academy graduate, who was brought into the first team around the same time as Saka but has suffered a number of setbacks.

He was given the number 10 shirt previously worn by Dennis Bergkamp, and on Wednesday showed flashes of the promise that once made him such an exciting prospect at Arsenal.

“I look at him and what happened in the last two or three seasons,” said Arteta. “Take all that. It’s the best thing that could have happened for him in his career, if you use it the right way now.

“Don’t look back and say ‘if’. If this happened, use it. ‘It was the best thing that could have happened. I had great moments, I had difficult moments – now I know what I want and it’s going to make me a much better player’.

“It’s a hell of a player that we have when he is fit and he’s playing at that level.”

Arteta added that he hoped his team are coming close acquiring the same aura enjoyed by the 2003/04 Invincibles, Arsenal’s last title-winning side.

The 42-year-old played against the then reigning champions in May 2005 during a 7-0 defeat for Everton at Highbury.

“I’ve been in the tunnel playing in a different shirt and looking at the Invincibles,” he said. “You had a feeling tonight is going to be really tough. Hopefully we can create that.”

Eddie Howe confident Newcastle will keep star names this summer

Eddie Howe is confident Newcastle’s ambition can keep the club’s sought-after big names on Tyneside.

Record signing Alexander Isak’s blistering run of goalscoring form has this week seen him linked with North London duo Arsenal and Tottenham, while Paris St Germain have repeatedly been touted as suitors for Brazil midfielder Bruno Guimaraes.

The Magpies’ hopes of securing a second successive season of Champions League football have been all but mathematically dashed during a campaign which has been littered with long-term injuries, but head coach Howe hopes the direction being taken by the club’s Saudi-backed owners will be enough to persuade his star men to stay with the project.

Asked if European qualification would help that process, he said: “It will help, but I don’t think it will be the defining factor. That’s in the players’ hands and the club’s hands. Europe would certainly help.

“A lot will depend on our ambitions and where the club is going to go in the foreseeable future. I don’t think one season necessarily dictates that, it’s the general feeling of where the club is going to go.

“We as a football club need to continue to push forward. You set your ambitions not just in terms of talking, but in actions, so we need to show to them that we are a club moving forward.”

Isak, who cost Newcastle £63million when he joined from Real Sociedad in 2022, will head for Fulham on Saturday with 19 goals to his name, while Guimaraes has established himself as a fans’ favourite at St James’ Park since his £35million capture from Lyon in January of the same year.

Both have become key figures in Howe’s strongest team, and the 46-year-old has little intention of letting either leave this summer despite the perception from outside the club that he may need to sell to comply with profit and sustainability rules.

Asked if he feared a transfer window of fending off approaches, he said: “I don’t fear that. In some senses, that’s what you want because it means your players are playing at a level that everyone appreciates and I want my players – all of them – to be playing above what they think they’re capable of being.

“So no, I don’t think fear is the right word. I want Alex to keep scoring goals, I want him to keep being in the headlines – I’m sure he wants the same thing – but we want to keep him long-term.”

On Guimaraes, he added: “Let me tell you, players like Bruno, they are not around every corner. They are very rare. Bruno should be appreciated for everything he brings. My intention would be to keep Bruno at the club for as long as we possibly can.

“I can never make guarantees though. That would be absolutely foolish of me. We have been in football long enough to know you don’t know what is going to happen tomorrow.”

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Manchester United
Most shots conceded in 2024 - Ten Hag defends Man Utd record after topping European charts
Man Utd have conceded most shots in Europe's top-five leagues in 2024
28 attempts by Chelsea on Thursday set yearly tally to 225
Ten Hag hits back at critics and says defenders are of requisite standard

By Sean Walsh
Apr 5, 2024
Ten Hag has belief in his team
Ten Hag has belief in his team / Mike Hewitt/GettyImages
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag leapt to the defence of his players after they set a new record for shots conceded in 2024.

The Red Devils gave up a 28 shots during Thursday night's 4-3 loss at Chelsea in which the hosts scored in the 100th and 101st minutes to complete a memorable comeback.

This followed on from Saturday's 1-1 draw at Brentford in which the Bees had 31 attempts and were unlucky not to have won.

United have now faced 225 shots in 2024 alone, more than any other side in Europe's top-five leagues, but Ten Hag insisted after the game that while such stats are "ridiculous", he believes his defenders and goalkeeper are still of the requisite standard.

"It is ridiculous. We showed we were fourth-ranking goals in conceding and everyone is talking to each other after, we are good and we have good defending as a team and a good goalkeeper so I cannot do nothing," he said.

"[The loss is] definitely a setback and now we have to deal with this and get up - we are resilient and you have seen that today.

Harry Maguire, Andre Onana
Man Utd have been busy at the back / Shaun Botterill/GettyImages
"The quality of our football is really high, but football is about results and you have to bring it over time."

United are now 11 points adrift of Aston Villa in fourth and nine of Tottenham Hotspur in fifth, meaning their hopes of Champions League qualification are incredibly slim.

They return to action on Sunday with the visit of rivals Liverpool, who moved back to the top of the Premier League table with a 3-1 win at home to Sheffield United elsewhere on Thursday.

"The team will be there on Sunday. They have character. They showed it today, fighting ourselves into the game," Ten Hag added.

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