Virgil van Dijk names Premier League team going under radar as Liverpool title truth to become clear

Liverpool leads the Premier League standings, albeit after only six matches, and it has been a positive start to the new era under Arne Slot. Manchester City and Arsenal, who have already faced one another, are just a point behind.

Sitting in fourth spot, though, and having scored the most goals in the division to date, is Chelsea. Under Enzo Maresca, it looks as if the Stamford Bridge side is finally putting together some sort of coherent plan after spending the hundreds of millions of dollars that have been plowed into the squad.

Just two points behind Liverpool and with a trip to Anfield coming up soon for Chelsea, we could be about to see just how much of a gap there is for the Blues with the top three from last season.

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"They have a lot of new players, young players, exciting players," Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk told reporters including from Liverpool.com over the weekend. "And they are building. They are winning games and it is all about winning and staying consistent is important.

"But I don't look at Chelsea. They are also going a bit under the radar but it is so early in the season that anything can still happen. There is still one or two teams unbeaten."

Liverpool can only focus on itself and so far, the noise has been far more surrounding last year's top two, Manchester City and Arsenal. That is something that Arne Slot certainly won't mind — though he might not be able to stem it for much longer if the results continue.

"We still have to prove that when we come across Arsenal, Newcastle, Chelsea [and] Aston Villa [to see] if we can then still be up there with Champions League games included as well," Slot said during his post-Wolves press conference.

"I think everybody is realistic enough," he continued. "All the players have so much experience that they understand six games into the season doesn't give you a realistic view on the league table. That is more like in 19 games then you can really feel, 'OK, where are we?'."

Keeping going and maintaining that consistency is what Van Dijk wants to see too. Next up for Liverpool is a trip to Crystal Palace, which has tended to be as tricky as visits to Wolves in recent years — usually a battle, but often with the three points heading back to Merseyside.

"We want the best football we can play but if we are struggling, we need to be ready to fight and especially [vs Wolves], we showed that," Van Dijk continued. "Mo [Salah] was defending the back post and heading balls away and that isn't his job. He deserves credit because he is not only important up the pitch but also in the defending part. I see that kind of work and appreciate it."

Liverpool.com says: It has been a promising start for Liverpool but we are entering a period where the Reds' true status this season will soon become clear. If they can beat Chelsea well, for instance, that would suggest that a title push could be very much on. Then there are games with Arsenal, Brighton and Manchester City on the horizon, as well as some big ones in the Champions League including RB Leipzig, Bayer Leverkusen and Real Madrid. It's set to be an exciting period.