Virgil van Dijk has confessed that Liverpool were lucky to escape Sunday’s match against Manchester United with a draw.
Despite entering the match as heavy favourites, Liverpool were outplayed for much of the enthralling 2-2 draw and were lucky to see Harry Maguire’s shot fly over the bar in the seventh minute of added time.
It was a missed opportunity for Liverpool to advance further in the Premier League title race, as both Arsenal and Chelsea had dropped points earlier in the weekend, and Van Dijk admitted the Reds should simply be relieved to have added a point of its own. .
“If we were absolutely honest with ourselves, it could have been a lot worse,” Van Dijk reflected after the match.
“Ultimately they had a great opportunity that could have been much worse than where we are now. “I’m definitely disappointed to lose points at home, but that’s what it is and we have to move on and we will.”
“We found it 2-1 and then it’s about trying to manage the game and keep the ball for more than three or four passes. At times we lost the ball too easily and then we were more open than we should have been. “We are not perfect, we are still learning and we have to learn from this too.”
Van Dijk continued to deny suggestions that the pre-match narratives surrounding the two clubs ultimately caused Liverpool to underestimate United.
“That’s all the means,” he said. “The media chatter.
“It has nothing to do with us. We are preparing for a very tough game like the one we saw today. “We didn’t think about any of that.”
