Virgil van Dijk lays down law to Liverpool teammates after 'unacceptable' season
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Liverpool FC NewsFeaturesVirgil Van DijkThe Liverpool captain has encouraged the team to end a frustrating campaign on an upbeat note and beat Chelsea to all but secure a top-five finish in the Premier LeagueVirgil van Dijk has called for Liverpool to end the season on a positive note(Image: Getty Images)Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk has called on the Reds to end an “unacceptable” season on a positive note by securing a Champions League berth this weekend.Achieving that feat is not entirely in Liverpool’s hands, although victory over Chelsea would all but seal a top-five finish. Only Bournemouth would be able to overtake the Reds from those sides currently outside of the Champions League spots, and given Liverpool’s superior goal difference, that seems unlikely.As the season winds towards a conclusion, Van Dijk has called for Liverpool to end on an upbeat note and build on three wins from the last four Premier League outings.READ MORE: Chelsea has 6 players missing for Liverpool game after sickening clashesREAD MORE: Arne Slot provides 'complicated' Liverpool injury update on Conor Bradley“This is our penultimate home game of the season, and we know exactly what is required from us as a team,” the Liverpool captain wrote in his pre-match notes.“We have a duty to perform whenever we play for this club, but especially at Anfield, and we are all determined to give you guys something to enjoy and to shout about on Saturday.“We know we still have a job to do to secure Champions League qualification for next season, and we want to do that as soon as possible.
We have three games left to play, and we want to win them all, starting on Saturday.”Van Dijk wants to see an improvement from last week at Old Trafford(Image: 2026 James Gill - Danehouse)Liverpool hosts a beleaguered Chelsea this weekend, with the managerless Blues losing their last six Premier League games.However, given the return of Reece James and Levi Colwill, Chelsea’s options should be bolstered, and with places up for grabs ahead of next week’s FA Cup final, Van Dijk said he is expecting to face an improved Chelsea.“Chelsea, like ourselves, have found it difficult at times this season, but we know that they possess a lot of talent in their squad.Calum McFarlane will take charge of Chelsea this weekend(Image: Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC)“They will be motivated after a disappointing result of their own last weekend, and we know we will need to be at our best if we want to get the three points.“Like I say, that is our target, nothing more. This has been a very disappointing season – an unacceptable one, in my opinion – but we cannot feel sorry for ourselves.
That is not what Liverpool is about.“We are all frustrated of course, but we want to try to finish on a positive note, secure that Champions League spot and give you guys at least something to take away from a tough campaign.”Choose Liverpool.com as a 'Preferred Source' on Google News for quick access to the news you value.Liverpool FCVirgil Van DijkChelsea FC