Pep Guardiola makes surprise Virgil van Dijk admission ahead of Man City vs Liverpool - 7M sport

Pep Guardiola makes surprise Virgil van Dijk admission ahead of Man City vs Liverpool

Virgil van Dijk has often proven to be a big obstacle for Manchester City in matches against Liverpool.


Posted Saturday, November 07, 2020 by Express.co.uk

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has admitted he will "miss" not seeing Virgil van Dijk line up for Liverpool when the two Premier League titans face off on Sunday. Van Dijk has been at the heart of Liverpool's success over the past two seasons, barely missing a minute of football as Jurgen Klopp's side won the Champions League and Premier League.

But the Reds will have to try and retain the title without their talismanic centre-back after he ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament last month against Everton.

Van Dijk is expected to miss the remainder of the season, which comes as a huge boost to City and their hopes of winning the league.

However, Guardiola admits he would much rather see Liverpool be at full strength with Van Dijk in their line-up for the game on Sunday.

"The most important thing is that the surgery was good and I hope he can recover as quickly as possible," he said.

Pep Guardiola makes surprise Virgil van Dijk admission ahead of Man City vs Liverpool
Pep Guardiola will miss Virgil van Dijk

"I will miss him, I like to play with the best players on the pitch and Liverpool remains an incredibly top team because the structure is there.

"Every player knows what they have to do and the result against Atalanta.

"We faced them last season and know how hard it is to beat them away - and they did it.

"Liverpool remains a top class team."

Games are generally tightly-contested between Liverpool and City and Guardiola expects much of the same come Sunday.

And the City boss admitted his side will go through spells of having to "suffer" against Liverpool.

"When you play against teams like Liverpool you always have moments where you have to suffer," Guardiola added.

"We know it, we have to do it and try to use our strength as much a possible.

"We know each other quite well, we play many many times and I don’t expect a game like 90 minutes we will be there or they will be there.

"There will be ups and downs, we have to be stable and take our good chances and be clinical.

"Both teams want to attack, both teams want to try.

"In general, we did games - not over 90 minutes because we are not ready to maintain the level but in general it was good."



Attention: Third parties may advertise their products and/or services on our website.7M does not warrant the accuracy, adequacy or completeness of their contents.
Your dealings with such third parties are solely between you and such third parties and we shall not be liable in any way for any loss or damage of any sort incurred by you.