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| Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk (left) is tracked by Leicester City's Wilfred Ndidi during the Premier League match at the King Power Stadium, Leicester. Picture date: Tuesday December 28, 2021. |
Virgil van Dijk admits Liverpool 'must improve' if they wish to maintain their challenge for the Premier League title this term.
The Liverpool defender returned to the Reds team at the back following a spell out with Covid-19 but was unable to prevent his side slipping to a 1-0 defeat at Leicester City on Tuesday.
Ademola Lookman fired the Foxes' winner in the 59th minute winner but Liverpool also wasted good chances to score, with Mohamed Salah missing a first-half penalty while Sadio Mane also fired over from inside the box in the second half.
While Van Dijk admitted the Foxes were the better team, the Dutch defender claimed that poor finishing ultimately cost his side at the King Power Stadium.
“I think they deserved the win but that was obviously also down to us,' he told Amazon Prime after the game.
“I think we were poor in the last third. A lot of crosses they defended well. Overall, not a good performance.
“They didn't create much but looked dangerous on the break which they are good at. Credit to them.
“We have to look at ourselves and improve, which we will do. It's part of football.
“We will keep trying until the very end. We created good chances but unfortunately today wasn't the day it went in the back of the net. Penalty miss, which happens. But it's disappointing.”
Van Dijk though insists there will be no huge concerns just yet at Anfield, despite remaining six points off table toppers Manchester City at the halfway point of the campaign.
The 30-year-old also admitted part-fault in the Leicester goal, conceding that Liverpool gave Lookman too much space to fire past Alisson's near post.
“Obviously you don't want to concede at all. We let [Ademola Lookman] get into space and unfortunately the goal went in,” he added.
“But we had moments we reacted and created chances to do better. You have to give them credit as well.
“What can we say? We're in December. The season is so, so long. Anything can happen. You have seen it with Covid and injuries - lots of things can change.
“There's no point looking at [Manchester City] or Chelsea or the other teams around us. We should look at our performance today and improve.
“We all wanted to do better. That's a fact. We weren't good enough and they deserved the win.”
