Virgil van Dijk admits need for 'hard talking' at Liverpool after Man City defeat

Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk has confirmed that the squad will hold a ‘meeting’ in the wake of Saturday’s humbling 4-1 Premier League defeat to Manchester City, which left the Reds increasingly unlikely to secure a top four finish.

Even though Mohamed Salah gave Liverpool a promising 17th minute lead at the Etihad Stadium, an equaliser from City forward Julian Alvarez cancelled that out before a collapse early in the second half paved the way for a ninth league defeat for Jurgen Klopp’s side this season.

As much as the score-line, it was the nature of the defeat that Van Dijk admitted is a problem.

“If you’re losing the way we lost, then definitely there will be some hard talking,” he said.

“That’s really normal, we’re grown men and we’ll see. It was a tough afternoon, definitely. Very frustrated. That’s the feeling. We’re going to have a meeting together, but the turnaround is quite quick, with Chelsea on Tuesday.”

The weekend’s result have left Liverpool eighth in the Premier League, eight points adrift of the current top four with 11 games left to play.

Even if Klopp’s team can reel in Brentford and Brighton, each one point ahead, it will be an uphill battle to catch the likes of Tottenham, Manchester United and Newcastle who occupy third to fifth.

Liverpool’s run-in doesn’t make it much easier. Next up is a Chelsea side hoping for some new manager bounce after Graham Potter’s departure, followed by the visit of Arsenal and Tottenham during the rest of April. There is also a tricky game against Brentford and other potential banana skins for the Reds to contend with.

Klopp’s team have finished in the top four and secured Champions League qualification in each of the last six seasons. Prior to that, the club endured six finishes of sixth or lower in seven seasons between 2009/10 and 2015/16 and were repeatedly absent from the Champions League.

The one thing that gives Liverpool hope is that they were in a similar position to this in 2020/21, eighth with only 10 games to go after a shock home defeat to Fulham. But 26 points from the last 30 available saw them fly up the table and eventually finish third.