Virgil van Dijk admits he has been impressed by Chelsea’s improvement this season as he anticipated a tough test for Liverpool on Sunday.

The Blues have enjoyed an impressive start to the season, establishing themselves as early candidates for a top-four finish and sitting just four points behind league leaders Liverpool heading into Sunday’s game.

Previewing the match, Van Dijk urged his Liverpool teammates not to underestimate Enzo Maresca’s young side.

“I know that Anfield will be bouncing for the visit of Chelsea, and for sure we will look to draw on that noise and atmosphere as we go for all three points,” he wrote in the matchday programme. “We all have our part to play in what will be a very tough game.

“I have been impressed by Chelsea’s progress this season. I said a few weeks ago, after our win at Wolverhampton Wanderers, that they have gone under the radar a little bit within the media, but we will certainly not be underestimating them.

“A lot has been made about the number of changes they have made as a club during the past couple of seasons, but one thing that is absolutely certain is that they have a squad which is full of very good footballers, players who can cause problems for any team.

“They also have a manager who has a clear idea of how he wants his team to play, and who looks like he is starting to get the best out of the talent at his disposal.”

Liverpool boss Arne Slot went on to confess that Chelsea will likely represent his side’s toughest test of the season so far, having previously urged fans to wait until his side had faced some top-tier opposition before drawing conclusions on their title hopes.

“Going by the league table as things stand, Chelsea are the strongest opponents we have faced so far,” Slot admitted.

“Going into this weekend, they were in fourth place having had a good start to the season and picking up some really good results along the way.

“This should not come as any surprise, of course. Chelsea have a lot of good players and they finished last season well also so it makes sense that they will continue to develop and improve and this is certainly happening right now.

“We have said repeatedly that there would be some big tests to come for us and this is definitely one of them.”

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