Liverpool’s captain is not downplaying the task. In his notes for Sunday’s matchday programme, Van Dijk framed Manchester City’s visit as the sort of fixture that defines a season.
“We know the quality that City possess all over the pitch, and we will have to be at our best if we are to get what we want,” Van Dijk wrote.
“It is a big challenge, but it is one we will relish. These are the games every player looks forward to, for sure.”
City arrive at Anfield top of the table with a perfect record, five wins from five under Enzo Maresca, who replaced Pep Guardiola in the summer. Liverpool, now coached by Andoni Iraola after Arne Slot’s departure in May, sit seventh with nine points from five matches, three draws dragging on their opening run.
Captain’s privilege, not pressure
Van Dijk cast the fixture as a measure of where Liverpool are, not where they will be in May.
“Our Premier League campaign resumes and, in my opinion, we could not have a better fixture with which to do so,” he wrote.
“Games like this, tests like this, are extremely important in terms of that development.”
The captain also pushed back against the idea that playing at Liverpool is a weight to carry.
“This is a club which must always compete for everything, and which demands the highest standards, every single day. That’s not a pressure, it’s a privilege, and it is one we all enjoy as Liverpool players.”
City arrive under a different cloud
City are not just the league leaders, they are a club waiting on an appeal that could reshape the Premier League season. An independent commission found the club guilty of all serious financial breach charges on 29 September, concluding that City had inflated revenue and cut costs by more than £900 million across a nine-year period from 2009-10 to 2017-18. The club lodged an appeal on 1 October, branding the ruling “unsafe”.
Maresca was asked about Anfield’s reception in his pre-match press conference and refused to engage with the backdrop. The Italian, speaking after returning to City this summer on a three-year deal, said he was “not worried at all” about any hostile atmosphere affecting his players.
4:30pm at Anfield
Kick-off at Anfield is at 4:30pm local time on Sunday. It is Liverpool’s first meeting with Manchester City since the guilty verdict, and the first time Van Dijk has led his side out against them with Maresca in the opposite technical area.
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