Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk has admitted that "it is not a good idea" to be overly cautious when his side head to Manchester City in the Champions League.

The Reds face the Citizens at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday evening protecting a three-goal lead from this week's quarter-final first leg.

Even a 2-0 loss would be enough to send Liverpool through to the last four of the competition, which may tempt Jurgen Klopp set out his team defensively, but Van Dijk believes that a change of philosophy could prove disastrous.

"I don't think it's a good idea to sit back and see what they are going to do," he told reporters. "We just have to play our game and try to score goals. We need to be aware and ready for anything.

"Everybody knows how much quality City have got. You could see that in the second half at Anfield when they were pressing us. I don't think people will say this tie is all over."

Liverpool have kept a clean sheet in eight of their last 11 matches in all competitions.