Virgil van Dijk strongly denied Liverpool underestimated Manchester United before Sunday's game between the two sides at Anfield, describing it as "media talk".

Liverpool are top of the Premier League and Ruben Amorim has recently discussed the prospect of a relegation battle, but United would have recorded a stunning victory if Harry Maguire had scored the golden opportunity that fell to him in the final few seconds of added time.

Although Maguire rifled his shot well over the bar and the points were shared, there were huge positives to take from the performance for United at the beginning of 2025.

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Liverpool were the heavy favourites to win and the worst was expected after a third successive home defeat for United against Newcastle but they showed character at Anfield.

United looked comfortable and organised in Amorim's system and Liverpool captain Van Dijk admitted the result could have been worse for Arne Slot's side after Maguire's chance.

A disappointed Van Dijk spoke to BBC Radio 5 Live after the game and said: "It could have been a lot worse, if we are absolutely honest with ourselves.

"They had a big chance in the end and that could have been a lot worse than where we are now. I'm definitely disappointed with dropping points at home, but it is what it is and we have to move on and we will.

"We found the 2-1 and then it is about trying to manage the game. Keep the ball for longer than three and four passes. We lost the ball too easily at times and then we were more open than we should have been. We are not perfect, we are still learning and we have to learn from this as well."

Van Dijk was asked whether Liverpool underestimated United and said: "That's all the media - media talk. It's nothing to do with us. We prepared for a very tough game like we have seen today. We didn't think any of that. We look at the next game, we don't look at the league table."

After drawing against United, Liverpool have drawn four of their 19 league games so far this season and lost just once.