It was quite the week for Liverpool midfielder Curtis Jones , whose partner gave birth to their first child , Giselle, a few days before he produced his best performance for the Reds to date.
Jones, who has often been held back by frustrating injury troubles at inopportune moments, was the star of the show as he scored the winning Liverpool goal against Chelsea , sending his side back to the top of the Premier League table. And captain Virgil van Dijk had some positive words for him at the final whistle .
"I think it's been an amazing couple of weeks for him on a personal level," Van Dijk told reporters including from Liverpool.com at Anfield . "Of course, becoming a dad for the first time, I am happy everything went well there; that is the most important thing.
"He was Man of the Match today , scoring the winner, which is always important. But apart from that he was outstanding in the defensive work he did. He kept Cole Palmer very quiet, and I think that is what pleased me the most."
"Unfortunately, injuries are part of the game, and I think he knows when he plays, he has to deliver," Van Dijk continued. "So today was a good day for him and us, and he just has to keep going down the path. Don't get dragged too much into the positivity, and keep going."
Now 23, Jones is still in the relatively early stages of his Liverpool career. He needs to find some more consistency and ensure that the performance he put in against Chelsea is not a one-off.
"I speak to everyone when I think a certain player needs it," Van Dijk responded when asked if he had held conversations with Jones specifically. "Probably we have more players who do that too, and we have a great team in that way. We have to just be there for each other, and that is the only way to success. We all know that.
"I think there were probably plenty of moments when we spoke about certain things, and that is part of being a team. You go through so many things together, some good things and other not-so-good things, so that is what we all have to do, just be there for each other."
Back on top of the Premier League and heading to the Emirates Stadium next weekend with the chance to open up a seven-point gap to Arsenal if it can beat the Gunners next Sunday, Liverpool has defied expectations early on under Arne Slot . There are still several big tests ahead but Van Dijk is more than happy that most people were speaking about Manchester City and Arsenal being the only two teams in the title picture when the season began.
"That is fine," Van Dijk said. "Everyone can have their opinion but I know, like I think a lot of people know, opinions can change every three days now in terms of [people saying] someone can win the league and someone can't. I think there is no point listening to any of that. I don't do that.
"I focus on one game at a time, I want to be successful, I want to win trophies in every competition we're in, I want to try and win it. We know how difficult it is but I am going to give it a very good go I think.
"My own form is fine. I will let others do the talking; I don't want to talk about myself. It is not me who is not conceding, it is all of us who are not conceding. I'm the captain? Yes, but I am feeling very fine."
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