Virgil van Dijk insists it is ‘far too early’ to discuss Liverpool’s Premier League title bid.
Jurgen Klopp’s side consolidated their lead at the summit with Monday’s 4-2 win against Newcastle United that opened up a three-point gap on Aston Villa.
This month sees the Reds fighting on three fronts with an FA Cup third round clash at Arsenal and a Carabao Cup semi-final against Fulham still to come.
But Van Dijk remains guarded over potential talk about the Anfield club vying for the title is premature with up to four teams still mathematically in the hunt.
He said: “I’m not going to speak about any of this. I never did and I won’t do it now either. It’s far too early to do that.
“We are at the start of January, we have players leaving now, we have players coming back from injury so let’s see what it brings.
“If in February, March we are still up there obviously we have to get the last push going and see if we can squeeze it out.
“But for now we just focus on the game ahead and don’t look at others, try to improve ourselves.
“That’s always been the experience and it brought is one success over the last six years to win the Premier League.
“Hopefully we will see what happens at the end of the season.”
Liverpool’s season has evolved against the backdrop of changes with Van Dijk installed as the captain of a team undergoing a remarkable transition.
“Transition is always a bit of a question mark,” added the defender.
“There are new players coming through, there are new roles for different players – including myself.
“You try to do everything in our power to make sure everything around it outside of the pitch is in the best shape with the best atmosphere and quality to perform on the pitch.
“Performing on the pitch helps massively with confidence. But you have to make sure you have the right base in order to be successful.
“So far it has been a decent season but we are [only] in January and we have so many goals and dreams, so let’s just go for it.
“Not only us but the whole club and fans who will play their part in that as well.”