Virgil van Dijk says Jurgen Klopp has urged his Liverpool players to stay grounded despite their eight point advantage at the top of the Premier League table.
The Reds opened up an eight point lead at the top of the Premier League table with a 3-1 win over Manchester City last week, and they will bid to continue their unbeaten start against Crystal Palace on Saturday.
Despite their already commanding lead in the title race, Van Dijk has outlined how Klopp keeps his players grounded by telling them to focus on each game as it comes.
He said: “Of course I can sense how much winning the title is spoken about.
“For our fans, winning the championship has been way too long, so they place the Premier League title now above everything.
“No competition is more important than this one, but we need to keep the fever outside.
“Klopp tells us every week, ‘Focus on the next match’.
“We are doing alright, but it is only November. The hardest months of football are still waiting.”
Liverpool face a wait to see if Van Dijk will be available to play against Palace after the defender pulled out of the Netherlands squad ahead of their upcoming European Championship qualifier against Estonia.
The centre-back captained Holland to a 0-0 draw against Northern Ireland on Saturday night as they sealed qualification for next summer's tournament.
But on Sunday, the Dutch FA confirmed that the 28-year-old has left the squad due to "personal circumstances", and would miss the game.
The Reds are already waiting to see if Mohamed Salah, Andrew Robertson, Joe Gomez and Jordan Henderson will recover in time for the trip to London, after they all left their respective international camps this week.
Salah, in particular, is a big concern after receiving an extended period of time off to recover from an ongoing ankle problem.
Klopp recently discussed Salah's injury, stating: "I think it is more really annoying - for him, not me - the fact that it always has a bit of fluid in, and he has to deal with it, we get it out and it comes back, and stuff like that."
