Liverpool completed another heroic comeback victory against a battling Aston Villa side in Birmingham on Saturday afternoon. Virgil van Dijk insists composure and sticking to the gameplan is what helps in such situations.
Speaking to the Liverpool Echo, Liverpool’s Dutch number 4 said there was much to improve on from the Villa performance but The Reds deserved the win they got in the end.
“I think we weren’t at our best, that is the reality.
“We could have done better with the free-kick we conceded but we kept pressing and they only had the moment of danger when they tried to square it to Wesley and I managed to clear it in the second half.
“We had a good chance with Sadio’s header, Ads [Adam Lallana] missed one and Mo, so we were there. We had our moments to score and we didn’t, so in the end, we scored a well-deserved equaliser and obviously we were able to win it at the end.
“I think the main thing is we have to keep doing the same things and it is difficult for teams to keep defending as well as they do at the beginning if we keep playing like we do for the full 90 minutes.”
A persistence and willingness to stick to the natural attacking game Liverpool play under Jurgen Klopp is the key to such comebacks, according to Van Dijk.
“It always means you get chances and I think we definitely deserved the equaliser based on the second half, and obviously to get the win is something we will definitely take.
“Villa have qualities and strengths we had to be aware of and we kept them in defending mode most of the time.
“They looked a bit dangerous on the counter but it is difficult for any team to keep defending so well the entire game, for the whole 90 minutes, and that is what happened. It is not easy.
“You have to just do your natural thing when you have the ball. You just have to keep playing and I know people will judge us but I think we deserved at least a point.”
Liverpool play KRC Genk at Anfield in the Champions League on Tuesday night. Then it’s a titanic Premier League clash against Manchester City on Sunday, at Anfield again.
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