Liverpool suffered their first away loss of the Premier League the season with a 3-2 defeat away to Fulham.

Three goals in a 14-minute span were enough for Marco Silva’s side to secure a big win against Liverpool, who heading into today’s match had not experienced a loss in the league since September against Nottingham Forest.

Whilst Liverpool fans were impressed with Alexis Mac Allister’s display, the overall performance from the Reds was disappointing, with captain Virgil van Dijk again enduring a difficult day at the office at the back.

And Arne Slot has now shared his verdict on Van Dijk’s performance against Fulham after another poor game from the centre-back.

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Speaking to the press after Liverpool’s defeat at Craven Cottage, the Dutch manager defended the 33-year-old despite acknowledging that Van Dijk’s form could have been better against both Fulham and Everton midweek.

Stephen Warnock criticised Van Dijk after the defender’s performance in the Merseyside derby in which the Netherlands international was far from his usual world-class best, with the defender lucky to have kept a clean sheet at Anfield.

Yet despite these recent performances, Slot still backs his captain, with the Liverpool manager saying: “I mainly give credit to other players as well.

Van Dijk is not the first player to find it difficult to defend against Beto.

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“And the one that played here today, you have to give credit to him also.

I still see a lot of things that Virgil does really well, but if you play 50-60 games a season, there will be moments, even for him, where you could have done better.”

Van Dijk has been arguably the best defender in Europe this season, with the Liverpool centre-back one of the key reasons why the Reds are on course to win a second Premier League title even after today’s loss to Fulham.

And heading into the final seven games of the season, Van Dijk knows he has to get out of this slump if he’s to lead Liverpool to the Premier League glory and to lift the title in the coming weeks as captain of the club.

Indeed, West Ham at home next weekend will be the perfect contest for Van Dijk to regain some form, and the defender knows that a good performance at Anfield will go a long way in finishing off the season strongly.


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