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Brendan Rodgers has told talkSPORT that he has hopes his Celtic side can meet Liverpool in the Champions League next season. Rodgers, who is on course to guide Celtic to a domestic treble in his first season at the club, was in charge of Liverpool during their 2014-15 Champions League campaign. He is looking forward to competing in Europe next term with Celtic, and hopes Jurgen Klopp's side will be among his competitors. "It'd be amazing," Rodgers said when asked whether he would like to draw Liverpool. "With the games Liverpool have left they would expect themselves to qualify. "They haven't got European football, so they're just preparing for that one game a week. "Manchester United have got a couple of games in hand, but towards the end of the season that can be tough and they've got other games [with their two-legged Europa League semifinal against Celta Vigo] and maybe they'll see other priorities. "Liverpool have points in the bag, they've won more games and if they win their next four games or so hopefully that'll be enough for them." Liverpool are currently third in the Premier League with four matches left to play, although rivals below with games in hand could catch them up. Meanwhile, Liverpool continue to be linked with a move for Southampton's Virgil van Dijk, with sources telling ESPN FC that the Reds have scouted the centre-back, as have other major clubs around Europe. Rodgers says the former Celtic defender has the ability to play for one of the Premier League's top sides. "He looks it," Rodgers said. "The problem sometimes for some of the guys who have played with Celtic is that people think 'they were only playing in Scottish football' which is of course a less competitive league than the Premier League. "But you only need to look at those players, and if you're doing it at European level for Celtic and you're playing under the pressure of playing for Celtic then you have to have something about you. "With Virgil van Dijk, I speak to the guys up here who have worked with him -- he's always had those qualities. It's up to somebody to take that punt on him. "But he's what, 6-foot-4? He's fast, he can play, he is an international footballer. He's got everything. He's a real top player. "He's at a great club, but if he leaves there it would have to be for one of the top-four or top-six clubs." In February, Rodgers said he tried to sign Van Dijk during his time at Anfield, only for the move to be blocked by Liverpool.
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