Virgil van Dijk Slams 'Negative' Idea of Liverpool 'Just' Winning EPL Title

Virgil van Dijk has hit out at the idea that Liverpool's success this season is "just" contained to winning the Premier League title.

The Reds, who are on the verge of winning their first league title since 1990, were knocked out of the FA Cup by Chelsea on Tuesday.

Melissa Reddy of The Independent shared his comments after the match:

He added:

"That's just the reality. Either you're going to think about these things and go on with it and go on with that negative spirit, or you just focus on the good things, and I'm definitely focusing on the good things. We are in a very good situation.

"Close to what we all hope to achieve. Let's just go for it, enjoy it. [Tuesday] is a big blow, but we were playing against a very good side. Let's focus on 'just' the Premier League, because it's very small, huh?"

Liverpool are 22 points clear in the Premier League title race and need just 12 more points from their remaining 10 matches to guarantee the trophy will go to Anfield.

The Reds have been waiting 30 years to win the English top flight, but their credentials have been called into question somewhat after losing three of their past four matches.

Their UEFA Champions League title defence is hanging in the balance after a 1-0 loss to Atletico Madrid at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium in the first leg of their last-16 tie.

Liverpool also lost 3-0 to Watford on Saturday, ending their hopes of matching Arsenal's achievement of going a Premier League season unbeaten—even though they are on course to surpass their points tally—and the 2-0 loss at Chelsea put a stop to their FA Cup hopes.

The Reds have been so imperious, winning 26 of their first 27 league matches, that they have been drawing comparisons with Manchester United's treble-winning 1998-99 side and Arsenal's 2003-04 Invincibles, against whom they have arguably fallen slightly short:

Jurgen Klopp's side are still in the Champions League, though, and have a game at Anfield to overturn their deficit to Atleti.

The Reds have won all but two of their matches there this season. They drew 1-1 with Napoli at Anfield in November, a month after a heavily rotated side beat Arsenal on penalties after a 5-5 draw in the Carabao Cup.

Liverpool are the European champions and back-to-back finalists, so they will arguably be favourites to win the competition if they reach the quarter-finals.