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There´s more to PSG than just Neymar and Mbappe – Van Dijk warns Liverpool

SoccerNews in English Premier League 27 Nov 2018

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Paris Saint-Germain will still have the weapons to hurt Liverpool even if Neymar and Kylian Mbappe are ruled out of their Champions League meeting due to injury, according to Reds centre-back Virgil van Dijk.

The most recent international break proved a worrying one for Thomas Tuchel and PSG, as both Neymar and Mbappe suffered injuries.

While Neymar sustained a groin problem against Cameroon, Mbappe landed awkwardly on his shoulder in France’s 1-0 win over Uruguay.

Both players missed the slender 1-0 triumph at home to Toulouse in Ligue 1 on Saturday and will face late fitness tests to see if they can feature on Wednesday, with PSG third in the group and a point behind the Reds ahead of their visit.

But Van Dijk is sure PSG will have countermeasures in place for the talented attackers missing out.

“They have plenty of good players throughout their squad,” he told Liverpool’s official website. “We will see if they play.

“They are obviously quality players and we need to respect that, but they still have other fantastic players to cover them.

“We need to focus on ourselves and make sure we’re ready to press them, to try to make sure they can’t play their game and we will see if that will be the case.”

PSG head into the match on the brink, as defeat coupled with a win for Napoli at home to Red star Belgrade will spell the end of their Champions League campaign for another year.

And Liverpool have no plans to sit back and let PSG have the initiative in Paris, with Van Dijk insisting the Reds are going to the Parc des Princes to take charge.

“We want to win in Paris. We’re not going to go there for a draw, we’re not going there for anything else other than trying to produce a good performance and trying to win the game,” the Dutchman added.

“It’s going to be unbelievably tough because they are still unbeaten in the league and haven’t lost at home for a long time.

“I think personally we need to play our own game, try to put them under pressure and stop them from doing what they’re good at, which is playing football. We will see what happens on the night.

“It’s going to be a fantastic game with fantastic players all over the pitch. I am looking forward to it. These are the games you want to play in – you don’t want to be sitting at home watching them, you want to be playing in them. We have the chance to show that on Wednesday.

“It’s the highest level in Europe. It’s something special. With the fans, it’s something you want to be part of – and you want to hopefully win it as well.

“We need to show we’ve learned from our last two away games in the Champions League. I think we will. I am very confident we can produce a good performance.”

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