Van Dijk lauds 'scary' Liverpool trio Salah, Firmino and Mane

Liverpool star Virgil van Dijk heaped praise on "scary" attacking trio Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane as the Reds top the Premier League table.

Salah, Firmino and Mane combined to lead high-flying Liverpool to a 5-1 demolition of Arsenal at Anfield on Saturday.

Firmino scored a hat-trick, while Salah and Mane were also on target as centre-back Van Dijk lauded the deadly trio ahead of Thursday's trip to second-placed Manchester City.

"We were almost perfect. We conceded the goal. That was the only thing," said Van Dijk. "But it was an important win. We have finished 2018 now pretty well, and hopefully we can keep that going.

"Confidence is definitely here, but it can change over a couple of games. We won't get carried away. We need to keep doing what we have been doing. There will be setbacks, as there always is in life, but it's how you react and so far we have been doing pretty well.

"At the beginning of the season, people were saying they [the front three] didn't click. They're fantastic. You see in this game as well and they can be undefendable. It's scary — and I'm happy to see that."

Liverpool hold a seven-point lead as they make the trip to reigning champions City, who ended a run of back-to-back defeats against Southampton on Sunday.