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No pressure on Alexander- Arnold to stay, says Van Dijk

Ben Fisher

Virgil van Dijk said he had not put pressure on Trent Alexander-Arnold to stay at Liverpool and that his teammate deserved his moment of glory in the 1-0 win at Leicester on Sunday. Alexander-Arnold's winner - the first left-footed goal of 23 in his career - put Liverpool on the cusp of a 20th league title.

Van Dijk pushed the 26-year-old, who is expected to leave for Real Madrid this summer, towards the Liverpool supporters after the final whistle and Alexander-Arnold clenched his fists in celebration.

Liverpool will seal the Premier League tomorrow if Arsenal lose at home to Crystal Palace, and can otherwise secure it at home against Tottenham on Sunday. The Liverpool captain said it was "past my wildest dreams" to be 13 points clear at this stage. "I think we forget that we are dealing with a human being." Van Dijk said of Alexander-Arnold, who returned from an ankle injury.

"There's a lot of noise around him and obviously everyone can argue if it's his own fault, [but] it's part of life nowadays. So when he scores a big goal like that, he deserves applause for stepping up in that moment and to soak it all in because, whether he stays or leaves, these are moments which you shouldn't take for granted. So I think he deserved that moment and now it's back to work."

Asked whether he had spoken to Alexander-Arnold about his future, Van Dijk said: "I think he was under a lot of pressure already so there's no point for me to put him on the spot."

Liverpool's players will report for training tomorrow after two days off. Van Dijk said the squad may convene tomorrow as they did in June 2020 when they celebrated winning the title after Manchester City lost at Chelsea. "I expect Arsenal to win at home but, if it doesn't happen, then I think it would be nice to be together!"