Liverpool lost their fourth Premier League match in a row and the fifth of their last six in all competitions on Saturday, dropping a 3-2 result to Brentford. The Reds were again taken to task with direct play and set pieces while looking turgid as they attempted to break down the hosts rear guard.
Liverpool’s captain Virgil van Dijk was again frustrated with the performance of the squad. His side conceded again from a set piece opportunity and a counter attack. That makes six set piece goals conceded (second
worst in the Premier League) and three counter attacking goals (worst in the Premiere League). When asked about the result after the match, van Dijk had a one-word descriptor – disappointed.
Disappointed. Disappointed for losing here. We know obviously what their strengths were and what they obviously look to try to do. The first goal is something obviously we knew, so we have to be spot on in that – it’s a quality of them. Then the second goal to concede is obviously not great. Then the penalty. It was just a very disappointing night overall for us. It’s tough to take but it’s the reality and we have to keep going.
There was a brief respite from the negative vibes this past week as Liverpool thrashed Eintracht Frankfurt 5-1 in Champions League play this past Wednesday. Many were hoping it was a “turn the corner” moment for a Liverpool side that seems to be searching for its identity as many new players are still attempting to integrate into the side. Instead, the Reds reverted back to a side that was carved open all to easily on a regular basis and without a cutting edge in the attack. Virgil van Dijk stated that the side need to turn their mindset around quickly ahead of a difficult EFL League Cup fixture with bogey team Crystal Palace.
It’s the reality that we lost today, and that’s the only thing. We have the next game on Wednesday against an opponent that made already our life difficult this season. We have to turn our mindset pretty quickly in order to be ready for that, because they’ll come to Anfield to try to hurt us even more. Obviously this is a tough one to take, we can’t deny that. It’s been not an easy moment. We were trying to build on the performance that we had in Frankfurt but unfortunately this was not a nice evening to have.
