Virgil van Dijk has admitted Liverpool were fortunate to escape with a draw in their clash with Manchester United on Sunday.
Despite going into the game as overwhelming favourites, Liverpool were outplayed for much of the thrilling 2-2 draw and were fortunate to see Harry Maguire’s shot fly over the crossbar in the seventh minute of stoppage time.
It was a missed opportunity for Liverpool to climb further in the Premier League title race, with both Arsenal and Chelsea having dropped points at the start of the weekend, and Van Dijk admitted the Reds should simply be relieved to get a point of their own to have fetched.
“It could have been a lot worse if we were completely honest with ourselves,” said Van Dijk after the game.
“They had a great chance at the end that could have been a lot worse than where we are now. I’m definitely disappointed to have lost points at home, but that’s how it is and we have to keep going and we will.”
“We found the score at 2-1 and then it’s about controlling the game and holding the ball for longer than three or four passes. We lost the ball too easily at times and were then more open than we should have been. We.” “We are not perfect, we are still learning and must learn from it.”
Van Dijk continued to deny suggestions that the pre-match narratives surrounding the two clubs ultimately led to Liverpool underestimating United.
“It’s all media,” he said. “Media talk.
“It has nothing to do with us. We prepared for a very difficult game like we saw today. We didn’t think anything of it.”