Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk sends Kylian Mbappe message ahead of showdown

Virgil van Dijk has told his Holland team-mates the best way of stopping Kylian Mbappe as the Liverpool captain prepares for a "huge test".

Van Dijk will come up against new Real Madrid forward Mbappe when the Dutch side face France in their next Euro 2024 group game on Friday evening.

Holland opened the tournament by coming from behind to beat Poland 2-1 on Sunday afternoon, aided by an equaliser from Reds forward Cody Gakpo.

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And with Mbappe having scored four times as France beat Ronald Koeman's side both home and away during the qualifiers, Van Dijk is aware of the danger the forward can pose.

"Look, everyone knows his qualities," said Liverpool skipper Van Dijk. "We have to be at our best as a team in order to stop them (France) from scoring, but obviously he is a world-class player that can make the difference in one split second.

"But we have to be ready as a team for a different kind of challenge and I think we've shown what we can do over the last couple of games. We have a top level defence ready to be tested on Friday. That game is now the big one.

"We struggled them in our last couple of games against them but I am looking forward to that. The focus will be on recovery and making sure that everything's ready for what a huge test that will be."

Holland had fallen behind early on against Poland in Hamburg, only for Gakpo - who was later named man of the match - to strike a deflected leveller shortly before the half-hour. The Dutch - for whom Ryan Gravenberch was an unused substitute - then had to wait until seven minutes from time before substitute Wout Weghorst scored the winner.

"You just have to stay calm and patient and I think we did, obviously," said Van Dijk. "I think it's very important to keep pushing, keep the confidence in each other and I think we did. Guys who came off the bench made a difference and that's what we need. I don't think that there is anyone in the team that has a give-up mentality. It's about keeping going and trying to keep creating."