Virgil van Dijk urged his Liverpool teammates to get the job done and seal their place in the last 16 of the Champions League after they breezed past Marseille on Wednesday.
The Reds produced an emphatic performance at the Stade Velodrome, with Dominik Szoboszlai and Cody Gakpo’s goals coming either side of a Geronimo Rulli own goal.
Indeed, Liverpool remain unbeaten in each of their last thirteen games in all competitions (W7 D6), the longest run of any team from Europe’s top five leagues.
Since the start of last season, no team has won more away games in the competitive phase of UEFA’s flagship competition than Liverpool (P8 W6 L2), tied with Arsenal (P8 W6 D1 L1).
Liverpool’s latest win has moved them up to fourth in the 36-team standings and onto 15 points, with Azerbaijani side Qarabag their final opponents in the league stage next week.
“It’s very important because you miss the play-offs and it helps with the intense program we have. It’s all up to us again next week at home,” Van Dijk said.
“Let’s make sure we’re in the top eight. We’ve put ourselves in a good position, but that’s for next week.”
However, Van Dijk also wanted to focus on Liverpool’s upcoming clash with Bournemouth in the Premier League after drawing their last four games in the competition.
“We always keep saying it after a win or a good result. We will now fully concentrate on the recovery, and then we go to Bournemouth, and they are difficult to beat,” Van Dijk added.
“We have to be more than ready. We fly back tomorrow. On to the next one.”
Three points and a clean sheet #UCL pic.twitter.com/1d5TGHI5mw
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) January 21, 2026
Liverpool boss Arne Slot echoed his captain’s sentiments regarding finishing in the top eight, saying it was crucial to avoid extra games due to their injury list.
“People can see what a team we have,” Slot added.
“We have three players out with injuries and we already don’t have the squad size that our competitors have, so it is important that we don’t play these games.”
Ahead of kick-off, Slot expected goals to return to the squad, with Mohamed Salah involved again after missing out last month when he represented Egypt at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Although not on the scoresheet, Salah, who made his 88th appearance in major European competition for Liverpool, level with Ian Callaghan, helped play a starring role for the Reds, registering an expected goals total (xG) of 1.49 from their 11 shots.
“It could have been a tough place to go to, and that’s because of their fans, but also because of their players and manager. We had to be very good today, and we were,” Slot said.
“We should have done better on the counter-attack. We were very positive with the ball.”
“We scored three and everyone will be more positive than if we create five chances but score one. In the last 13 unbeaten games we have only been behind for 54 minutes.”
“We had many earlier chances to win today. Today we probably deserve what we got. We were not unlucky, as we have experienced so many times this season.”
“I know why we are not consistent and that especially happens when a match is open. It is completely different from playing against a low block.”
“You can’t compare that to tonight’s game, when both teams wanted to press and play from the back. If we are inconsistent it is because we struggle with low blocks.”
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