Van Dijk urges Liverpool's £364m attack to prove themselves after Salah's departure

Virgil van Dijk has challenged Liverpool’s revamped attack to prove their worth every three or four days, following a 2-0 Premier League victory over Brighton that offered the most encouraging glimpse yet of life after Mohamed Salah.

Alexander Isak, Bradley Barcola, Florian Wirtz and Cody Gakpo started together for the first time on Sunday, combining for a performance that suggested the £364m forward line is beginning to find its rhythm. Isak scored for the sixth consecutive league match, converting after an assist from Barcola, while Wirtz had opened the scoring with a deflected effort.

Salah left Anfield in the summer, cutting his contract short by a year following a difficult final campaign. He has since scored 10 goals in 10 appearances for Trabzonspor, and Van Dijk was candid about the scale of the challenge facing those tasked with replacing him.

“What Mo has done for so many years as a winger, I don’t think anyone can replicate that,” the Liverpool captain said. “Hopefully it is going to happen but what he did was incredible. The same goes with Sadio [Mane] and Bobby [Roberto Firmino].”

Van Dijk was careful not to let nostalgia cloud the mood, however. “We can always think it was better back in the day but that is not the mentality that it should be at a club like Liverpool and I don’t feel it has ever been. The club will always move on at a certain point and there are always players who will shine and perform for the club.”

The Dutchman pointed to the quality already on show this season while stressing that sustained output is the only true measure. “It is down to these players who are here now to show it every three or four days. The second goal was class but there are plenty of moments already this season that they have been very good. At a club like Liverpool you have to do it every three or four days. That is always the challenge, but it is a nice challenge. I’m pretty confident that it is going to be fine.”

Eighteen-year-old winger Rio Ngumoha, who had been the decisive substitute in Liverpool’s previous two matches, was again available from the bench, underlining the depth now available to the club in attack.

The win lifted Liverpool into the Premier League’s top four. Their only defeat of the season remains a home loss to Manchester City, and Sunday’s result brought a fourth clean sheet of the campaign. On-loan Barcelona defender Ronald Araujo has also made an immediate impression at the back as the squad continues to take shape under its new-look structure.