The teams that finished first and second in the Premier League last season meet on matchday three of the new campaign on Sunday (4.30pm BST kick-off).
The champions go into the match having emerged from St. James’ Park with all three points via a 100th-minute winner from Rio Ngumoha last Monday and Van Dijk is looking forward to having home advantage against Mikel Arteta’s side.
“Newcastle was a big, big test for us, and I thought we showed a lot of character to come through it,” Liverpool’s captain writes, in his notes for the official matchday programme.
“Yes, we left it late, but I’m not sure many teams will come away from St. James’ Park, and that kind of atmosphere, with three points this season.
“Having been up against that noise and ferocity on Monday night, it will be nice to be on the other side of it. We know that you guys will be ready for this one, and I can’t wait to see and hear you giving us your full support. As ever, we will look to feed off that energy, and hopefully we can give you plenty to shout about on the day.
“Every game is important, but we can’t deny that this is one that will have a lot of eyes on it, given the strength and ambitions of the two teams involved. Both meetings last season were very tight and very hard fought, and there is a lot of respect between the two sets of players.
“From our perspective, the job is simple. Whenever we play at Anfield, we want to show our best side and make it as tough a place as possible for the opposition to play.
“Together, let’s do just that.”
