Programme notesVirgil van Dijk: We know you will be ready - I can't wait to see and hear you

The teams that finished first and second in the Premier League last season meet on matchday three of the new campaign on Sunday (4.30pm BST kick-off).

The champions go into the match having emerged from St. James’ Park with all three points via a 100th-minute winner from Rio Ngumoha last Monday and Van Dijk is looking forward to having home advantage against Mikel Arteta’s side.

“Newcastle was a big, big test for us, and I thought we showed a lot of character to come through it,” Liverpool’s captain writes, in his notes for the official matchday programme.

“Yes, we left it late, but I’m not sure many teams will come away from St. James’ Park, and that kind of atmosphere, with three points this season.

“Having been up against that noise and ferocity on Monday night, it will be nice to be on the other side of it. We know that you guys will be ready for this one, and I can’t wait to see and hear you giving us your full support. As ever, we will look to feed off that energy, and hopefully we can give you plenty to shout about on the day.

“Every game is important, but we can’t deny that this is one that will have a lot of eyes on it, given the strength and ambitions of the two teams involved. Both meetings last season were very tight and very hard fought, and there is a lot of respect between the two sets of players.

“From our perspective, the job is simple. Whenever we play at Anfield, we want to show our best side and make it as tough a place as possible for the opposition to play.

“Together, let’s do just that.”

The Reds’ late, late victory at Newcastle followed a dramatic 4-2 win over AFC Bournemouth on the opening night of the campaign and Van Dijk states: “I think we have shown a lot of spirit and character in our first two games. To beat Bournemouth the way we did, on what was a very emotional occasion for the club, demonstrated that.

“To then follow that up with another victory up at St. James’ Park, it should not be understated. Yes, we know that we can play better, and that we will need to as the season progresses, but what we have shown is that we will work hard until the very last second, that we will fight and compete for every ball, and those are big qualities for any team to have.

“I speak all the time about the standards we have to set ourselves, day to day and week to week. Everything starts on the training ground; the way you prepare, the way you train, the way you recover and get ready to go again.

“We all have to be on it every single day, ready to sacrifice and to perform. That is the basis for any successful team. Like I say, we know that we can improve our performance levels collectively, and I am confident that we will.

“The good news, of course, is that even though we can admit that, we are still showing that we can win matches, and tough matches too.”

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