Liverpool have not been in the best form of late but following a convincing victory over Aston Villa over the weekend to kick off the month of November, the Reds will be hoping that they’ve put a dire October behind them and can get back to winning ways.
Doing so won’t be easy, though. Not when their next opponents are La Liga leaders Real Madrid, who arrive at Anfield the firm form favourites. That sort of challenge, though, can be galvanizing. It can be motivating. Real Madrid, under the lights on a weekday evening at Anfield.
“We are all really looking forward to the challenge,” said Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk ahead of the match. “These are the nights you live for as a player. We know what to expect. This time last year, we produced one of our best performances of the whole season to beat them 2-0.
“We were excellent that night, producing a real team display. That I remember was also one of the best atmospheres of the season, and we will need more of the same this evening. We need noise, we need passion, and we need support from the first whistle to the last.”
Despite those recent struggles, Liverpool got that against Villa, with Anfield in good voice from the off—and the players repayed that with a strong performance as they fed off the fans and the fans fed off them. That will be the expectation again here, and it seems a safe bet they’ll get it.
“I thought the support against Aston Villa was outstanding,” Van Dijk added. “It has obviously been a difficult period, and that inevitably leads to noise and criticism from the outside, but on Saturday you guys were with us from the word go and that definitely helped push us.”