Virgil van Dijk is hopeful Liverpool have rediscovered what it takes to push Manchester City all the way in the Premier League title race again. The two had epic battles in 2018-19 and 2021-22, when City pipped their north-west rivals by just a single point, while in between those campaigns the Reds clinched their first championship in 30 years. Having experienced a huge dropoff last season in finishing fifth, Jurgen Klopp’s side have bounced back after a summer midfield rebuild and will resume after the international break with a trip to the Etihad in a first-v-second clash. It is the closest Liverpool have been to City in 18 months and Van Dijk believes with consistency in results and fitness they can mount a sustained challenge. Asked whether he thought they were capable of running City close for the title, the captain said: “I hope so. “You have all these aspirations, dreams, goals and you want to compete until the very end in every competition we are in. “That is definitely the case at the beginning of the season and then you grow into a season. It’s November and there is still so much to play for. “It’s going well, but if we had not got a result against Brentford (a 3-0 win at the weekend) we would have been in that downward spiral – from the outside world of course – because you don’t set it up nicely for the game after the international break. You want to compete until the very end in every competition we are in. It's November and there is still so much to play for Virgil van Dijk “Overall this season we have been doing well but the season is not decided in November and there could be so many twists and turns, we all know that.” Key to that will be staying injury-free. Against Brentford, Liverpool’s options were down to the bare minimum with Alexis Mac Allister suspended and Ryan Gravenberch, Curtis Jones, Thiago Alcantara and Stefan Bajcetic – plus defenders Joe Gomez, Andy Robertson and Ibrahima Konate – all unavailable. Klopp fielded a bench in which only one outfield player was aged over 20 but they got the job done to move into second and set up the intriguing trip to the Etihad a week on Saturday. “I looked in the dressing room and it felt like we were the under-23s but we still we have the quality, if you are good enough you are old enough,” Van Dijk added. “But we need to see, we need a bit of luck, we need no injuries and need consistency. “We finished on a positive feeling and now it is time to focus on something else (internationals). “When we come back there is a very big one away and we will see if we are ready for that test.” Read More Anybody can beat anybody on the day – Kane Williamson hopeful NZ can upset India Denver Broncos capitalise on second chance to beat Buffalo Bills World trampoline champion Bryony Page eyes landmark Olympic appearance in Paris Pep Guardiola not concerned that Manchester City only had eight subs at Chelsea John Carver urges Lawrence Shankland to make the most of late Scotland call-up Ben Davies keen to prove doubters wrong as Wales target another major tournament

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Scotland host England in the 116th edition of international football’s oldest fixture on Tuesday. Ahead of the old foes going toe-to-toe at Hampden Park, the PA news agency picks out some of the talking points. History in the making The game has been billed as the 150th Anniversary Heritage Match, to commemorate the advent of international football on November 30, 1872. At the West of Scotland Cricket Ground in Partick, a Scotland team exclusively made up of Queen’s Park players drew 0-0 with England, whose biggest contingent came from Oxford University. Other clubs represented were Notts County, Sheffield Wednesday, Cambridge University, the 1st Surrey Rifles and the now defunct Hertfordshire Rangers, Barnes and Harrow Chequers. Scotland’s passing game and the English tactic of running with the ball cancelled each other out in front of several thousand supporters. Scotland bid to close the gap England only lead 48-41 in the 116 meetings between the nations but Scottish wins, as well as the encounters themselves, have become scarcer in recent years. Scotland’s last home win came in the 1985 Rous Cup when Richard Gough headed the only goal, and their most recent victory was a bitter-sweet victory in 1999 when Don Hutchison headed a Wembley winner but England went through to Euro 2000 with a 2-1 play-off aggregate win. England have not lost in the past five meetings but the most recent two games were draws. Attention elsewhere for Scotland fans For probably the first time in the century-and-a-half of the fixture, many Scotland fans will be more concerned with a result elsewhere than what happens at Hampden. Scotland will become the first team to qualify for Euro 2024 if Norway and Georgia draw in Oslo. While the Scotland players will be focused on the task at hand, there might be some roars and celebrations from the home fans regardless of the situation in front of them. Southgate balances progress with performance England head to Hampden Park on the back of a hard-fought 1-1 draw with Ukraine in front of a partisan crowd in Poland. Gareth Southgate called it a good test in a hostile environment, just as he expects in Mount Florida on Tuesday night. This is England’s first friendly match since March 2022, after a run of 16 competitive matches taking in last year’s Nations League and World Cup before Euro 2024 qualification got under way. But do not expect too many changes as Southgate says it would be “ridiculous” to overly experiment against high-flying Scotland. “We’ve got to find the right balance of physical freshness – we’ve had a day less preparation – experience, finding out about some players, winning, playing well,” he said. Southgate to give Colwill debut? England’s development under Southgate has been impressive since he took charge in challenging circumstances in 2016, but there are plenty of questions to answer as next summer’s Euros come into view. Key among them is what to do at centre-back, given trusted lieutenant Harry Maguire’s lack of form and game time at Manchester United. Saturday’s match against Ukraine was his first start for club or country of the season, with Southgate seeing his experience as vital alongside Marc Guehi given John Stones and Tyrone Mings are out injured. Fikayo Tomori and Lewis Dunk are other centre-back options in the squad if Southgate wants to change things up against Scotland, as is uncapped Levi Colwill. The 20-year-old flourished on loan at Brighton and impressed since getting his chance at Chelsea this term. This would be a big occasion to make his debut but a great test for a player some have tipped to be a starter come Germany. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Gareth Southgate says England like Harvey Barnes amid talk of Scotland switch Gareth Southgate: England over-experimenting in Scotland would be ‘ridiculous’ Reece Topley admits to World Cup trepidation after injury woes

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Follow live coverage as Liverpool face Aston Villa in the Premier League today. Manchester City are reigning champions after beating Liverpool to the finish line in a neck-and-neck 2021/22 title race where a comeback win on the final day of the season against Aston Villa secured a fourth title in five years for Pep Guardiola's side. Jurgen Klopp's Reds were on course for a quadruple last season but were forced to settle for just an FA Cup and Carabao Cup win and will return trying to win the title again just as they did in 2020. It was a dramatic season for Chelsea a year ago with Roman Abramovich now replaced by Todd Boehly as owner in west London. He will want an instant return on his hefty investment at Stamford Bridge while Tottenham, back in the Champions League, will want to kick on once more too. It's not all about the action at the top though with Fulham, Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest promoted to the top tier for 2021/22 and hoping to hold their own against the best English football has to offer and avoid the drop. We will bring you all the action and updates from today's game in the live blog below:

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