Virgil van Dijk sends warning to Liverpool team-mates ahead of Manchester City showdown

Virgil van Dijk has urged his team-mates to adopt the right mind-set when they take on Manchester City on Tuesday night.

Liverpool take a 3-0 lead to the Etihad for the second leg of the quarter-final and are firmly in the driving seat after a wonderful display at Anfield.

City have to attack in the second, but Van Dijk does not want his team-mates’ mentality to slip.

The centre-back believes Liverpool need to fight fire with fire and not sit back against City.

‘It’s pretty clear that defending a three nil here is going to be a strange situation,’ Van Dijk said ahead of the game.

‘We need to come in with the mindset it’s 0-0. We want to win the game and we want to score goals.

‘We defend pretty well, very compact. We showed that in the second half. We need to keep the mindset of winning the game rather than defending a lead.’

City beat Liverpool 5-0 earlier in the season at home and are capable of dismantling any side.

The Sky Blues however are still licking their wounds from a 3-2 defeat to Manchester United at the weekend and Van Dijk believes Liverpool are ready to pick City off once again.

‘We feel like we’re in a great moment as a team. We can make it difficult for any team in the world but we have to show it. We have to fight,’ he said.

‘We have played well against them. We defended as a unit, so we’re pretty confident. They need to come, but we need to be ready. Like I said, we want to win the game.’