Captain Virgil van Dijk insists Liverpool will strive for further improvement

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk insists there is still room for improvement despite a near-perfect start to the season.

The 4-0 victory over Bayer Leverkusen made it four wins out of four in the Champions League and 14 in 16 matches in all competitions, with just one defeat and a draw.

But while Liverpool may have exceeded expectations in what was anticipated to be a year of consolidation and readjusting under new head coach Arne Slot following the departure of Jurgen Klopp, Van Dijk said the standards they set themselves meant everyone at the club wanted more.

“We are happy, but we want to be happy at the end of the season,” he said.

“That is all about working each day and getting better and working on things that we have to improve because there are still so many things to improve. We all know that as players and the manager is very keen to show that too.

“We’re still a work in progress, the manager wants us to defend in a certain way and we try to do that and solve things on the pitch as best we can.

“It doesn’t always go perfect as you’ve obviously seen in so many games but the good thing is that we make sure we are willing to defend, so when they beat the press we are back to not concede any chances or crosses or whatever.

“There are so many moments and things in games that we are doing well and I think so far, so good, in terms of results but we all realise as well that we can improve.

“So we are where we are now and still being able to improve is only a positive thing.”

Liverpool are currently top of the new-format, 36-team Champions League table – with Aston Villa the only other club with a 100 per cent record going into their match on Wednesday – and Leverkusen’s former Reds midfielder Xabi Alonso credited them with being one of the best sides in Europe currently.

They are well on the way to qualifying for the last 16 as one of the top eight, importantly avoiding an additional play-off round, and Real Madrid are the next visitors to Anfield in three weeks’ time.

What has been noticeable in their European campaign is how a number of players have chipped in and when Luis Diaz and Cody Gakpo made it 2-0 early in the second half, their first eight goals in the competition had all been scored by different individuals.

Diaz went on to score his first Liverpool hat-trick, and the club’s first in Europe at Anfield in seven years, having been deployed in an unfamiliar false nine role.

“Lucho is an amazing player, like the rest of the guys. Cody was amazing again, Mo was outstanding, so good,” said Van Dijk.

“Darwin (Nunez) is very important and they have to keep going because we need players who are in form, we need players who are firing and playing their best football.”