Tag: Virgil van Dijk

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk is certain Mohamed Salah will get the send-off his glittering career deserves, even if injury prevents the Egyptian from playing again for the Reds.

Salah, who will leave Anfield after nine years at the end of the season, was forced off with a suspected hamstring injury in Saturday’s 3-1 win over Crystal Palace.

Liverpool are awaiting the results of a scan to determine the extent of the problem, but with just four games of the campaign remaining, the 33-year-old may not feature again this season.

“If you get injured at this stage of the season, especially in the situation he is in, there are only two more home games left for him. It’s a combination of feelings that go through your mind,” said Van Dijk.

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“He will get the send-off regardless. I don’t think that is the thing at this point; we shouldn’t think too far ahead.

“Knowing Mo, he is a quick healer and with the right people around him, let’s see.”

Mohamed Salah has scored 257 goals in 440 appearances since his arrival in 2017, behind only Ian Rush and Roger Hunt in Liverpool’s list of leading goalscorers.

The winger has been integral to the club’s rise back to the top of English and European football, winning the Champions League and two Premier League titles among a clutch of trophies.

Salah also scooped the players’ player of the year award a record three times and was the Premier League’s top scorer on four occasions.

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Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk said the Premier League champions have to improve a woeful record defending set-pieces if they are to continue an upturn in form.

The Reds only edged past bottom-of-the-table Wolves 2-1 on Saturday after conceding a 12th league goal in 18 games from a set-piece.

No team has conceded more, and, at the other end, Liverpool have only scored three times from set-pieces, excluding penalties, themselves.

That minus nine differential is their worst in any Premier League season.

“The fact is we’ve conceded too many set-piece goals and we don’t score enough,” said Van Dijk.

“It’s something we have to improve. I would say at least 75 percent of the time, or even more, it’s not even about the first contact. It’s the second phase that is the killer.

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“Is it a mental thing? I hope not. If that’s in your head then it’s an issue. Personally, it’s not in my head.”

Liverpool boss Arne Slot has bemoaned his side’s dead-ball defending for much of the season.

But the Dutchman sees signs of progress overall as Liverpool beat nine-man Tottenham and Wolves in their last two matches despite conceding from a corner in each of them.

“Unfortunately we’re maybe the only team that hardly ever scores from a set-piece and, even worse, we constantly concede,” said Slot.

“But then, I think I said two, three or four weeks ago, we have to make sure that when things go against us – it could be a set-piece, it could be other things – we still need to find a way to win.

“In the last two games we conceded from a set-piece but we were able to win and that hasn’t happened many times this season. That’s progress for me, but it’s obvious there are more things for us to improve and this is definitely one of them.”

Despite a string of unconvincing performances, Liverpool are on a seven-match unbeaten run.

Three consecutive league wins have lifted Slot’s men back into the top four, but they remain 10 points adrift of leaders Arsenal.

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Virgil van Dijk wants Mohamed Salah to stay at Liverpool despite the Egyptian star’s incendiary rant about the club, but the Reds captain admits he does not know what will happen over the next few weeks.

Salah came off the bench against Brighton on Saturday for his first appearance since claiming he had been “thrown under the bus” by the club following last weekend’s 3-3 draw with Leeds.

The forward also said in the same interview at Elland Road that he had no relationship with Liverpool manager Arne Slot, who had named him as a substitute for three straight games.

Salah was then omitted from the midweek Champions League trip to Inter Milan, a 1-0 win for Liverpool, but he was back in action as a first-half substitute against Brighton.

The 33-year-old provided an assist for Hugo Ekitike’s second goal in a much-needed 2-0 win, but will now jet to the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) and could be absent for five weeks.

After the match, Slot said there was “no issue to resolve” with his star forward, but speculation continues to rumble over the player’s future.

Van Dijk is adamant that he wants Salah to stay and said he had told him so.

“I would love to have him around because he is one of the leaders, but the fact is he is going to AFCON. We will be in contact over the next days and weeks like we always are and let’s see,” the Dutch defender said.

“I wish him absolutely all the best — and (to) come back, hopefully. I have no control over that.

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“We hope he will be absolutely successful there, and we all hope he will be coming back to be important for the rest of the season.

“But, on the other side of it, we all know football and have no idea what is going to happen.”

Premier League champions Liverpool ended a tumultuous week by extending their unbeaten run to five matches in all competitions.

Van Dijk said it proved the dressing room had not been distracted by the Salah situation.

“As a captain I have to deal with how the boys react to it and they reacted perfectly fine. Mo, in the end, reacted perfectly fine as well,” he added.

Van Dijk also praised Slot for dealing with a tumultuous period at Liverpool, whose Premier League title defence has collapsed in recent weeks.

“There is a lot of noise, pressure from the outside world and rightly so as we’ve not been close to the standard we were showing last season,” he said.

“But personally looking at it, and from the conversations we have on a daily basis, I think he has handled it very well.

“This moment of time is a very good moment to see how everyone responds. I think the manager has done perfectly.”

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Virgil van Dijk says Mohamed Salah omission from Liverpool’s team for a second successive match shows no player at the club has “unlimited credit”.

The Egypt international was an unused substitute for Sunday’s win at West Ham and was on the bench for the 1-1 draw at home to Sunderland on Wednesday.

Virgil van Dijk opens up on Mohamed Salah’s Liverpool omission

It was the first time in his Anfield career that he had not started in back-to-back league matches.

The forward was brought on for the second half against Sunderland but struggled to make an impact and is now goalless in five matches.

Salah has scored just four Premier League goals for the struggling defending champions this season, in stark contrast to his haul of 29 last season.

Liverpool captain Van Dijk was asked after the Sunderland draw whether Salah’s omission had sent a message to the dressing room.

“That’s always been the case,” he said. “It’s not like you have unlimited credit; everyone has to perform.

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“Mo has been doing that but the manager made that decision in the last two games. We all want the best for the club.

“I am pretty sure Mo will still be a big part of what we are trying to achieve because he is an amazing player and he has shown it consistently.”

Van Dijk praised playmaker Florian Wirtz, whose shot deflected in off Sunderland defender Nordi Mukiele for a late Liverpool equaliser that left them eighth in the table.

The German, who joined Liverpool from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer transfer window for £116 million ($155 million), is showing encouraging signs after a tough start to life at Anfield.

“There’s a very good reason why a club like us bought him,” said Van Dijk. “He’s an outstanding, world-class player, in my eyes, who can only become even better, but it will take a bit of time.

“For him he has to stay level-headed. Don’t get dragged into the outside world of when it’s very good or very bad, and don’t get dragged into the numbers game.

“Nowadays there are a lot of eyes on you if you score goals or have an assist or keep clean sheets, but it is also about what you see and the contribution you have for the team.”

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