Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk called his team 'slow and predictable' after the Reds suffered a late 2-1 defeat to Wolves at Molineux on Tuesday night
Virgil van Dijk faced the music after Tuesday's game
Virgil van Dijk faced the music after Tuesday's game(Image: TNT Sports)
View Image
Virgil van Dijk has branded Liverpool "slow" and "predictable" following Wolves' dramatic late triumph at Molineux.
The Reds laboured to fashion opportunities throughout Tuesday evening's encounter and were made to pay in the 78th minute when Rodrigo Gomes fired Wolves in front. Mohamed Salah swiftly responded for Liverpool by netting his first Premier League goal in four months.
However, there remained sufficient time for Wolves to secure a winner, which arrived via Andre's deflected effort in the 94th minute. The outcome leaves Liverpool fifth in the Premier League standings, three points clear of Liam Rosenior's Chelsea in sixth, albeit having contested an additional fixture.
Liverpool skipper Van Dijk addressed TNT Sports following the match and acknowledged his side's deficiencies.
"I think it's down to ourselves," said Van Dijk. "It was slow, we were predictable, sloppy in possession and wrong decision-making.
"We didn't concede chances, but if you perform like that, then a result like this can be a result of that, and that's a fact. It was disappointing."
The Reds failed to register a shot on target during the opening 30 minutes of the contest. "It's not one reason why that's the case," added Van Dijk when questioned about Liverpool's sluggish beginning.
"The game nowadays, we over-analyze why things are happening on the pitch. We as a team want to start a game as well as we can, and in the last game we did.
"Today, we had majority possession, but we were still making wrong decisions, and we couldn't find the end product."
Both goals conceded by Liverpool against Wolves could have been prevented.
The opening strike occurred after Van Dijk struggled to deal with a long ball forward, enabling Wolves star Tolu Arokodare to bring the ball under control and set up Gomes with a clear run at goal.
Andre's decisive goal came following Alisson's failure to properly clear the danger, with the ball falling to Wolves midfielder Jackson Tchatchoua approximately 40 yards out. Tchatchoua then fed Andre, who had sufficient time and space to unleash his shot.
Reflecting on the goals, Van Dijk said: "Conceding goals is always frustrating. We've come on the back of a couple clean sheets. Defensively, we've been very solid.
"But it is what it is, and we have to move quickly on because we come back here in a couple of days and we want to do well in the FA Cup."