Virgil van Dijk has warned Liverpool that Monday's clash with Manchester United is the 'perfect game' for their struggling rivals to kickstart their new season.

Erik ten Hag's side sit bottom of the table after suffering losses to Brighton and Brentford in the opening two games.

Speaking after the draw with Palace at Anfield on Monday, Van Dijk told the Liverpool Echo: "Yes, [it was a difficult week], but it's part of football, unfortunately. We have to deal with it, recover now as well as we can, all of us, switch our mind off on Wednesday because we have a day off, and then we focus on United.

"It's going to be a tough game away again but hopefully we get some players back and get a good performance and just be positive and think about winning. It's massive but it's not about making a statement, we want to win and do everything that's possible to win there."

Van Dijk added: "Over the years it has proven tough for us to win there, obviously last year was a great result, we can't deny it. This year they've had a difficult start and we've not had the best start that we wanted either, so it will be interesting.

"They are a good team in my opinion, they have good players all over the pitch. Obviously they're not in the best situation confidence-wise probably, but it's the perfect game to turn it around for them. But we're looking at ourselves and we want to make sure we're ready for it and we are going to work hard this week again.

"This week we showed a lot of good spirit and fight in training and I think we showed it. We created a lot of chances, unfortunately we didn't score, but we're standing here with one point and that's not what we want.

"It's a big game, a game on its own. We are all looking forward to that. Obviously we are disappointed but we'll prepare well and get a good performance."