Virgil van Dijk answer sums him up when asked toughest Premier League opponent

Virgil van Dijk summed up his competitive nature and desire to be the best as he said he thrives off the pressure that comes with facing sides like Manchester City and Arsenal.

The Liverpool captain was appearing on the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast when he was asked which 'guys' pose him the most problems on the pitch. Rather than name individuals, Van Dijk chose to name the Reds' two closest title rivals, saying: "I would say in this case then the City and Arsenal, especially from last year, it's always tough against them. You know that if you're not focused for a second or slip up or whatever, you could get punished immediately.

"But that's the beauty of the Premier League anyway, you play against good strikers week in, week out, and then you have this year's Champions League back again. It's only something I really enjoy and it keeps me on my toes. I love it."

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Meanwhile, Van Dijk's defensive colleague, Kostas Tsimikas, has said the Liverpool squad will miss Van Dijk if he leaves the club on a free transfer at the end of the season. Van Dijk, Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold are all facing uncertain futures, with their current deals at Anfield due to expire at the end of June next year.

“They will enjoy it if they stay or if they go, so I think that’s the only thing [that] matters," Tsimikas told Sky Sports. “It is up to them what they will do. For sure, the guys who leave, we will miss them a lot because all of them, they are many years here.

“So, yeah. They know what they want from the future but their thinking is always, you know, to enjoy every moment here. I think for everybody, [it] is the most important to enjoy and you don’t know what the future will bring.”

Van Dijk has been at Liverpool since joining the club from Southampton in January 2018, and he confirmed earlier in October that talks with the club over a renewal are ongoing. "We will see what happens in the future," Van Dijk said. "My full focus is on Liverpool, wanting to win games that are ahead of me and nothing else. What the future will bring I have no idea at the moment. I can only tell you that discussions have started and we will see."

Listen to the full Rio Meets Virgil interview on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, presented by Qatar Airways.