Cody Gakpo has revealed how a message from Virgil van Dijk almost two years ago continues to prove a driving force behind Liverpool's pursuit of honours. A hugely encouraging first campaign under boss Arne Slot has seen the Reds move six points clear at the Premier League summit with the game in hand, stand top of the Champions League table and remain in both domestic cup competitions.

Gakpo has been in outstanding form in recent months, with his brace in Saturday's 4-1 home win over Ipswich Town moving him on to 14 goals for the season with nine coming in his last nine appearances at Anfield.

But it was in the wake of the record-breaking 7-0 win over Manchester United in March 2023 - when Gakpo scored twice - that the Holland international believes the mindset for this season's challenge for honours was established.

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"The most important thing is what happened later in the dressing room," said Gakpo. "We’d gotten our fair share of s**t in the months before that game. And I’ll never forget what Virgil said after.

"He told us, 'Now, we have to stay calm. Don’t go thinking, ‘We won 7–0, we’re the best team again’. No. We were neutral before. We stay neutral.'

"Flash forward to today, and I think we have all the pieces. Now, we just stay calm, as Virgil would say. We stay neutral. But we don’t take our foot off the gas."

Such an approach has helped Liverpool remain unbeaten in the Premier League since September while also assuring qualification to the Champions League last 16 even before the Reds conclude the first stage at Gakpo's former club PSV Eindhoven on Wednesday.

And speaking to the Players Tribune, Gakpo pointed to the 2-2 draw at home to Fulham in December - when Liverpool were reduced to 10 men after 16 minutes but twice came from behind to earn a point - as evidence of the Reds' character.

"A massive point for us because we were one man down, 1-0 behind, and still showed everybody what we are capable of," he said. "Obviously when we win 4-0, it shows how good we are.

"But it’s games like Fulham, or like Brighton, when we were 1-0 down, and won 2-1 that really define Liverpool. We are measuring ourselves by the darkest hours because those are the moments that reveal character. And many times, they bring titles."

Gakpo added: "I don’t think the outside world really expected much from us in the beginning of this season, if I’m being honest. Because last season’s story was, we were great until the last 10 games, and then we messed it up. We knew we were close. We just needed a little bit more, but couldn’t get it.

"Then slowly but surely we really felt confident in how Slot wanted us to play. The first games we were flying. We beat Ipswich and Brentford. But when we went to Old Trafford and won 3–0, that was really the confirmation. Like, 'okay, we’re here. This can really be something'.

"This process, of course, started under (Jurgen) Klopp. Now, Slot is building on that foundation. He’s a very down-to-earth manager. Very calm, composed. You can talk to him about football, life, anything. He’s so good tactically, and I think we fit well in his system."

Gakpo has also highlighted the quality of midfield options available to Liverpool while singling out one player he believes isn't properly valued outside of Anfield.

"If you look at our midfield - Curtis, Ryan, Dominik, Wataru, Harvey, Alexis - they’re all complete midfielders," he said. "They can do it all: run, win duels and find each other between the lines. With Klopp we would more often play a long ball and then fight, but now that we’re playing with more patience, and shorter passes, you can fully see how much quality our midfield has.

"I love that Curtis is getting praised more and more. He’s one of the most underrated players on the team, but his ability on the ball is so good, it’s unbelievable. Ryan gets his praise now, too.

"I’m back on the left wing. I think that the biggest thing Slot did for my game is put me back in that position instead of playing in a more central role.

"Basically, it’s all in the details. Those are the sort of things that have to fall into place at the right time. It all has to click. Now, we’re in a good place to really challenge for the title. When everybody’s fit, we have every position covered with at least two quality players.

"One strength (Manchester) City had in the last few years is their depth. And I think we have that at the moment as well, which will carry us far... hopefully, far enough to win the league."