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Virgil van Dijk admitted he would not want to face Liverpool’s lethal strikers after Villarreal failed to contain the ruthless Reds.
Sadio Mane became the third Liverpool player to score 20 goals this season as Jurgen Klopp’s side won the Champions League semi-final first leg at Anfield 2-0 on Wednesday.
Mohamed Salah and Diogo Jota have also reached that amount in the 2021-22 campaign, while Luis Diaz has been a revelation since his arrival from Porto in January.
Divock Origi has also played his part this season, once again coming off the bench to score against Everton in a 2-0 Merseyside derby win last Sunday that keeps the pressure on leaders Manchester City in the Premier League title race.
Van Dijk is relieved he is able to watch the Reds’ rampant forward line create havoc rather than having to try and keep them at bay.
The centre-back told the club’s official website: “They are so important for us at the moment. I don’t want to be facing any of our strikers, to be fair.
“Diogo from the bench, Luis, Mo, Sadio, it’s incredible, Divock the last game. We are in a good moment, everyone is pushing each other and we’ll try to keep that going, and the amount of work they put in is incredible as well.”
Liverpool will travel to Estadio de la Ceramica for the second leg next Tuesday with one foot in the final as they attempt to win an unprecedented quadruple.
Van Dijk says there is no chance the Reds will sit back on their advantage.
“We are not going there to defend and defend the lead,” said the Netherlands international.
“We know we have to be very mature there as well, we know it’s going to be tough, probably a little hostile atmosphere, but it’s something we should enjoy as well.
“You don’t get to the final the easy way, it’s never the case, especially at this stage of the Champions League. You play against fantastic teams. So, it will be tough there but we have to be confident, work hard for the full 95 minutes and hopefully we can get the job done.”
