No panic buttons just yet, van Dijk assures Liverpool fans after suffering their second defeat in the space of 4 days.
At Galatasaray, Virgil van Dijk emphasised that Liverpool shouldn’t panic despite suffering back-to-back losses for just the second time under Arne Slot. Liverpool’s head coach justified the performance and his choice to rest Mohamed Salah in Istanbul, but injuries to Alisson and Hugo Ekitiké only made matters worse.
Liverpool lost the Champions League due to a penalty kick from Victor Osimhen in the first half. At Crystal Palace on Saturday, the Premier League leaders gave up their undefeated start to the season, but Van Dijk was certain that a redesigned squad will regain its winning ways.
The Liverpool captain said: “I think we have showed it already in many games this season but we haven’t shown it for the full 90 minutes yet unfortunately. It is absolutely normal and nowadays you don’t get the time from the outside world so you have to be strong mentally.
“I am very confident. We have to keep working and sticking together. We had a good start this year in terms of points tally. There shouldn’t be no panic, but improvement is needed.”
Slot revealed that due to a muscular issue, goalie Alisson would not play in Saturday’s trip to Chelsea. Following a late-game collapse while grasping the back of his leg, Ekitiké was also substituted out in the second half due to an undisclosed injury.
“Alisson felt something when he sprinted back,” Slot said. “Normally when a player sprints back and feels something and goes to the floor and doesn’t come back to the pitch – which by the way they did 112 times being injured and coming back on the pitch without any pain – then I fear the worst and that is what happened with Alisson. He will not be able to play Saturday, 99.9%.”
As for Liverpool’s latest defeat, the head coach said: “For me it was a different loss to the one we had against Palace because there was a lot more to like, especially in the first half.
“In the second half it became harder and harder for us to create because first of all they were fighting with all they had and you have to give credit to them, and secondly the ball was hardly in play in the second half.”