Virgil van Dijk offers brutal Liverpool verdict after Man Utd draw

Virgil van Dijk has confessed Liverpool were fortunate to escape Sunday’s meeting with Manchester United with a draw.

Despite entering the game as overwhelming favourites, Liverpool were outplayed for large parts of the enthralling 2-2 draw and were fortunate to see Harry Maguire’s strike soar over the bar in the seventh minute of added time.

It was a missed opportunity for Liverpool to climb further ahead in the Premier League title race, with both Arsenal and Chelsea having dropped points earlier in the weekend, and Van Dijk admitted the Reds should simply be relieved to have picked up one point of their own.

“It could have been a lot worse if we are absolutely honest with ourselves,” Van Dijk reflected after the game.

“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 deny suggestions that the pre-match narratives surrounding the two clubs ultimately saw Liverpool underestimate United.

“That’s all the media,” he said. “Media talk.

“It’s nothing to do with us. We prepared for a very tough game like we have seen today. We didn’t think any of that.”