Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk Calls for Calm After Red Bull Salzburg thriller

Virgil van Dijk insists there is no reason to panic about Liverpool's defence despite their unusually lax performance against Red Bull Salzburg.

Liverpool almost allowed the Austrian champions a famous comeback on Wednesday night after letting a three-goal lead slip at Anfield.

The reigning European champions rallied to secure a 4-3 victory thanks to a second-half winner from Mohamed Salah and Van Dijk has called for calm heads after the seven-goal thriller.

"Of course everyone wants to panic and stress and maybe look for all the negatives but we shouldn't," said Van Dijk.

"I'm not even looking at the negatives. We know we can do better but we are human beings and we can't always play the perfect game. Sometimes it happens.
"So far we are doing pretty well this season. We shouldn't forget that after one night where we were a bit disorganised.

"There's no reason for panic at all, we just need to relax, have a look at what can be better. Maybe it's a good thing. We know we still have to improve, but we will.
"We will analyse it, and we have another tough game against Leicester on Saturday. But we have to be confident and keep doing what we do."
Van Djik insists he was always confident Liverpool would claim the three points, even after Erling Braut Haaland equalised for Salzburg on the hour mark.

"We know by now that we never give up. That's how we are. We stay calm, we know the opportunities we have if we stay calm and composed," he added.

"We were 3-0 up and very comfortable and we put ourselves in a bit of a tricky situation but we won, and that's the most important thing, especially in the Champions League, where not a lot of teams can compete.

"We have to grind it out. We have the three points and that's the most important thing."

October 03, 2019