It will be 'special' to have Christmas off - Van Dijk

Virgil van Dijk says that having Christmas off for the first time in his Liverpool career will be "special".

As the Reds are next in action on December 27 at Anfield against Wolves, Arne Slot has decided to give his squad Christmas Day off.

With games taking place on Boxing Day in years gone by, players would usually train on Christmas Day. However, this year there is only one Premier League match that will take place on 26 December.

After winning at Spurs on Saturday, Liverpool are now unbeaten in six and the players had their Christmas celebrations with a dinner on Saturday night.

"We have Christmas Day off which is very nice of the staff," said Van Dijk. "It's a nice change. I'll be at home Christmas Eve too and I'm really looking forward to it.

"The staff always have a particular plan for a game. It works well for everyone. It's special to be off on Christmas Day. I don't think it's happened in my Premier League career so far. I'll make the most of being with my family and enjoy it all."

The Liverpool captain also revealed that he spoke to Xavi Simons after his compatriot was given a straight red card for fouling him in Liverpool's 2-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur.

"Yeah I spoke to him. It's a chat that no-one needs to know," added Van Dijk. "I don't think there was any intention to hurt me but obviously he hurt me and the referee and the VAR made the decision to send him off.

And with Liverpool now level on points with Chelsea, who are fourth, Van Dijk insists that it's time to push on after a testing few months.

"The aim is to try to win every game ahead of us. Unfortunately this season has had a lot of difficult moments in terms of results and performances as well," he said.

"But all we can try to do is get better. We're at a club where we have a lot of opportunities to show what we can do. We focus on Christmas and being with the family, and then we focus on Wolves."