Virgil van Dijk sends brutally honest message to Liverpool team-mates after Everton defeat

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk has insisted he does not care that his team were not predicted to be challenging for the Premier League title as he assessed what went wrong for the Reds at Everton.

Jurgen Klopp's side were largely second-best at Goodison Park as goals either side of the break from Jarrad Branthwaite and Dominic Calvert-Lewin secured a crucial result at both ends of the Premier League table. While the Toffees are now almost safe, the Reds are facing the real prospect of the season fizzling out with a whimper.

After the match, Van Dijk was asked by Sky Sports to assess what went wrong. "Listen, very disappointed in so many ways and I think everyone has to look at themselves in the mirror and look at their performances and if they really gave everything and do they really want to win the league," the despondent captain said.

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"We are still fighting and still have games after tonight, but if we play like we did overall in the game like today, not winning challenges and giving the ref an opportunity to give free-kicks like he did many times, we have no chance to win the title. It’s a tough one and obviously, we have to do much better against a side who is fighting against relegation. We have to focus on the 12:30 kick-off again."

When pushed on what exactly went wrong on Wednesday, Van Dijk responded: "I wish I had a proper answer for that. We are in this position because we have been consistent all season, even with all of the injuries that we have had.

"The players that have come in and the young players that have come in have put us in a good position. I think anyone at the start of the season would not have thought we were competing for the title, but listen, I don’t care what anyone said at the start of the season. We are here now and we all have to do much better.

"It sounds pretty simple but it starts with the fight and the will to win your challenges and be confident in scoring a goal. That is what we have been lacking and it’s a combination of a lot of things.

"Today in so many ways, I don’t want to speak about the referee because that is not an excuse. We have to be much better."

Finally, when quizzed on if Liverpool are still in the title race, Van Dijk concluded: "If we play like today then we have no chance to consider ourselves in the title race. We have to just focus on the next game, and that will be a tough one as well, and then we will see."