Virgil van Dijk hit back at Michael Owen over his analysis of Liverpool’s season after the 1-0 victory over Everton on Wednesday night.
Arne Slot’s side have restored their 12-point advantage over Arsenal at the top of the Premier League as Diogo Jota sealed the win in the Merseyside derby at Anfield.
Liverpool now remain overwhelming favourites to win the Premier League this season but hopes of winning more silverware have been extinguished in the last two months as they were dumped out of the FA Cup by Plymouth, eliminated by Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League last-16 and beaten by Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley.
But Owen feels Liverpool platers would still have a ‘bitter taste’ even if they go on to win the Premier League this season.‘It’s been a frustrating couple of weeks,’ Owen told Premier League Productions after Liverpool’s win over Everton.
‘Liverpool were poised to have a phenomenal season, if they win the Premier League it’ll still be fantastic but with a little bit of a bitter taste because it was building into something special.
‘I think it Liverpool fans hard, and the manager and the players, to go out of competitions in quick succession.
‘The dust will settle, everyone will realise if it’s the Premier League they win at the end of the season and only the Premier League that’ll be an incredible season and they would’ve snapped your hand off for that at the start of the season.
‘But it doesn’t stop the feeling of the last few weeks and to get that winning feeling back will be really important to everybody connected with the club.’
In a post-match interview, Owen asked Van Dijk: ‘I’m just thinking in terms of the season so far, if you’d have said at the start of the season you were going to win the Premier League I’m sure people would’ve been over the moon. However, it was building into something really special – how hard was it after a couple of big defeats in cup competitions to get your mind tuned back into the Premier League and to finish the season well?’
But Van Dijk was irked by Owen’s analysis of Liverpool’s campaign and curtly replied: ‘So you’re suggesting the season is not going to be special any more?’
Owen said: ‘It will be, absolutely, it will be special, but I thought it could’ve been building into something very special.’
Van Dijk replied: ‘Well, I think we have to change that narrative a little bit.
‘We’re fighting for the biggest prize of the season, we worked so hard for it, 20 teams are working so hard to be on top of the Premier League.
‘We have eight games to go, we know what’s at stake, we have to go for it, we have to fight, we have to enjoy the whole ride and then let’s see. Like I said, it’s still looking very special in my eyes.
‘I think what you said, at the start of the season, I think no one expected us to even try to fight on all four fronts, obviously we’re at the stage now where we’re still fighting for the biggest, and that’s the reality. It’s still a possibility that this season will be very, very special.’