Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk gave an honest post-match assessment after Arne Slot’s side dropped precious points in the title race against Manchester United at Anfield
Virgil van Dijk says Liverpool can have no complaints after slipping up in the title race against arch-rivals Manchester United.
The Reds had a golden opportunity to open up an eight-point gap on Arsenal at the Premier League summit against an out of sorts United team who are still finding their feet under new head coach, Ruben Amorim.
But United defied their critics to bank a share of the spoils in Sunday’s 2-2 draw and could have been even won the game with Rasmus Hojlund and Harry Maguire both spurning great chances in either half.
Van Dijk pulled no punches with his post-match assessment. Reflecting on the draw, he told Sky Sports: “It could have been a lot worse if we are absolutely honest with ourselves.
“They had a big chance in the end that could have been a lot worse than where we are now. I’m definitely disappointed with dropping points at home but it is what is and we have to move on and we will.”
“We found the 2-1 and then it is about trying to manage the game and keep the ball for longer than three and four passes. We lost the ball too easily at times and then we were more open than we should have been. We’re not perfect, we’re still learning and we have to learn from this as well.”
Van Dijk went on to insist that Liverpool did not underestimate United, who have fallen well below expectations this season and sit 13th in the Premier League table.
Arne Slot was asked a similar question during his post-match interview with Match of the Day and replied: “No, I don’t think that has anything to do with it. It’s just them going into a low block playing here.
“They have quality with the ball and without the ball, difficult to play through. It was so open when they started to play. You can see more how good they are if they are trying to play.
“For the first 75 minutes, [Andre] Onana played the ball long and every free-kick they got, they just hit it forward. In the last 15 minutes, you could see if they play over the ground, how good they are.”
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