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Beth Lindop
Virgil van Dijk has said there is «no point» looking at the Premier League table following Liverpool‘s 3-0 defeat against Manchester City but said he is confident the club can turn their season around.
Arne Slot’s side suffered their fifth league defeat of the season at the Etihad, with goals from Erling Haaland, Nico González and Jérémy Doku sealing the win for the hosts. The result leaves Liverpool in eighth place, eight points behind leaders Arsenal, but Van Dijk believes his team should not be focusing on the title race.
«There’s no point looking at the table for us, that is it,» the defender said.
«I don’t think there is any point for us. If you lose as many games as we have lost, I don’t think we can look at the table at this point, but I have been in the game quite a long time [to know] that seasons aren’t decided in November or December.
«It’s when it comes to March or April time when it starts to become very interesting how it all shapes up up there. We want to be there but there’s a long way to go and a lot of hard work to be put in. So we have to stay humble and we have to keep working and that is the only aim and the only thing we should focus on.»
Van Dijk thought he had cancelled out Haaland’s opener with a header late in the first half, however the goal was disallowed after Andy Robertson was controversially ruled to be blocking Gianluigi Donnarumma’s line of vision.
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«I don’t know who was on the VAR,» Van Dijk said «Michael Oliver? I think therefore, the officials at the stadium and the couple behind the screen have to make the right decisions for the game.
«Today it was decided the goal wouldn’t stand because Andy Robertson was, for any reason, hindering Donnarumma but I think the goal should have stood, that is all I will say. But I am not the one who is making the decisions.»
Reflecting on how Liverpool can bounce back from their latest defeat, the Dutchman added: «You don’t forget about results like this. If you forget about these things then you don’t get better. You cannot only think about the good things all the time. You have to think about what went wrong today and how we can improve it.
«You have to feel that responsibility, I definitely do. What could we have done better? And you take that into the next games. I don’t think there is any reason to get carried away, we faced some difficult opponents this week and we got two wins from three and we have to just keep going.
«It’s a difficult season so far for many reasons but I am confident we can turn this around. It doesn’t happen overnight, we have to keep working and we need everyone to be fit to keep helping us, so that is the key for all of us in the dressing room.»
