Virgil van Dijk says Liverpool's recent run of three wins in seven games in all competitions proves the strength of English football rather than the Reds are struggling.

Liverpool were held to a 1-1 draw in an enthralling encounter against Nottingham Forest in midweek, seeing their Premier League lead cut to four points after Arsenal’s win over Tottenham 24 hours later. 

Arne Slot’s side suffered a defeat to Spurs in their EFL Cup semi-final first leg while also drawing with rivals Manchester United at Anfield.

But Van Dijk insisted that despite failing to win in their first three games of 2025, the Reds will continue to fight for this year’s title, starting with an away trip to Brentford on Saturday.

"Ooh, so we are in a crisis now?" joked Van Dijk, when Liverpool's form was put to him. "It only confirms the Premier League is a very tough league where you play against opponents who are very good.

"It was always going to be tough, same with [Manchester] United at home with their new manager and the game plan they have been showing, especially against the bigger teams.

"Every game is tough, we have to find a way to win, and I think if we play like we did in the second half and keep fighting, keep trying, keep finding opportunities, then I am very confident we will score goals as well as we have been doing all season."

Brentford also had a stalemate in their last top-flight encounter, producing a late surge to ensure a share of the spoils with Manchester City at the Gtech Community Stadium.

It was the second time this season the Bees have come from two goals down to avoid defeat in the Premier League this term. Indeed, the Bees have scored seven top-flight goals from the 90th minute onwards this campaign, the most in the division.

The result moved them up to 10th in the table and averted a fourth successive home defeat across all competitions, and head coach Thomas Frank believes that kind of performance ensures the sky is the limit for his players.

"I'm a very positive and optimistic guy, I go into every game believing that we can win with huge respect for any opponents," Frank said.

"I know in some games we are probably not favourites, for example today, but we know if we hit our highest level, we've got a chance in every game and that's a fantastic feeling to have, and we try to transmit it to the boys.

"It is one game at a time, but of course [we want to] go as far as possible. We've got a very good group of players; we have created a great culture together.

"The staff, the players, everyone has very good characters, so we just try to keep pushing that group, and they do it for themselves."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Brentford – Yoane Wissa

Wissa scored his 37th Premier League goal, overtaking Ivan Toney (36) to become Brentford's top Premier League scorer.

He’s also been involved in 12 goals across his last 10 home league outings for the Bees (10 goals, two assists), with Toney the only other player to reach double figures at home in the top-flight (11 in 2022-23) for Brentford.

Liverpool – Mohamed Salah

Salah has scored 23 away Premier League goals in London – the only player with more is Wayne Rooney (30).

The Egyptian also has 13 assists in the capital, with only Ryan Giggs (19 goals, 29 assists) having more away goals and assists combined than the Egyptian (36).

MATCH PREDICTION: LIVERPOOL WIN

Liverpool have scored in all seven of their Premier League meetings with Brentford (17 goals in total), while also keeping four clean sheets in those games.

The Reds are also unbeaten in their last seven Premier League away games against London sides (W5 D2), beating Tottenham 6-3 and West Ham 5-0 in their last two. In English Football League history (top four tiers), no side has ever scored five or more goals in three consecutive away games in the capital.

They have had at least 20 shots in their last three Premier League away games (24 vs Tottenham, 22 vs West Ham, 23 vs Nottingham Forest). The last team to do so in four in a row were Manchester City in November 2014.

Brentford, meanwhile, have lost five of their seven Premier League games against sides starting the day top of the table, with both exceptions coming in 2023 (1-1 v Arsenal in February, 1-0 v Man City in May).

The Bees have also won just one of their seven Premier League meetings with Liverpool (D1 L5), losing the last four in a row since a 3-1 win in January 2023.

Having earned 22 points from their first eight Premier League home games this season (W7 D1 L0), Brentford have picked up just one point from their last three (W0 D1 L2). However, they did come from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with City last time out.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Brentford – 19.2%

Draw – 20.7%

Liverpool – 60.1%