Liverpool Lead The Premier League, Virgil Van Dijk: It's Not Time To Talk About Champions

JAKARTA - Liverpool again led the 2023/2024 Premier League standings after beating Burnley 2-0 in the Boxing Day match. However, captain Virgil van Dijk refused if Liverpool became the favorite to win the league title.

Liverpool returned to the track with three points when they played away at the Turf Moor Stadium, Wednesday, December 27, 2023, early morning WIB.

Liverpool took the lead through goals from Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota. Meanwhile, Harvey Elliot's goal was disallowed because his colleague, Mohamed Salah, was in an offside position.

Victory over Burnley led Liverpool to the top of the standings with 42 points. Two points ahead of Arsenal who dropped to second place.

Liverpool could actually step down from the top position if Aston Villa beat Manchester United at Old Trafford a few hours later.

The scenario went smoothly when The Villans took a 2-0 lead. However, MU managed to get up to turn things around and win 3-2. Villa also failed to complete the coup mission.

After successfully returning to the top, Liverpool began to be called the favorite champion. However, Van Dijk refused if The Pool became a favorite.

The reason is, competition is very tight and competition is still long, making Liverpool uncertain. Even before the turn of the year, the Reds had not been able to move away from the pursuit of their competitors.

"It's still December and we're not far ahead yet," Van Dijk said in response to Liverpool's chances of winning.

"For now, we want to spend time with our family and then focus on fighting Newcastle United. Next, we'll see where we are in May," he said.

Liverpool's position at the top remains unsafe. After Villa failed, the next threat came from Arsenal, who only competed on Saturday, December 29, 2023, early morning WIB.

If you win against West Ham United in the London Derby at the Emirates, Liverpool will definitely return to the rankings.

However, Van Dijk said he was satisfied to win the match on a fessive season (holiday festival), especially in Boxing Day matches.

According to him, Liverpool's victory was not a lucky factor, but they had to work hard to achieve it because Burnley gave a very tight fight.

"I am happy with the results of the last match of this year. It is important for us to get three points in this match. Moreover, we are in a high-intensity match. In my opinion, we played well this time," he said.

"The situation was out of control when our second goal was disallowed. However, we finally returned to our original performance," said the centre-back of the Dutch national team.

"This victory is not because of luck. They (Burnley) played with strong confidence. So, we have to perform better to win," he said.

Van Dijk was satisfied with the results at home after picking up a draw against MU (0-0) and Arsenal (1-1). They finally got up so they could win the top position.