Van Dijk glad to get 'massive' three points as Liverpool await update on injuries
RELIEVED: Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk is relieved to come away with an important three points in a chaotic game with Spurs.
CHRISTMAS is coming, in case you don't know, and there is plenty of festive cheer for Liverpool's players, if not those from Tottenham Hotspur.
The Reds will not only have a rare chance to relax with their families over the next few days, but they can prepare to face bottom club Wolves with a renewed sense of optimism after Saturday evening's 2-1 win at Tottenham took them back into contention for a top four finish.
Goals from Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike gave Arne Slot's side a two-goal cushion that they needed once Spurs staged a late rally in a game full of drama and controversy. Richarlison pulled a late goal back for the home side, and it took all of Alisson Becker's athleticism to stop Spurs making an unlikely comeback, having played over an hour with ten men after Xavi Simons was sent off, and then finishing the game with nine after Cristian Romero also saw red.
While there was anger and frustration from a Tottenham perspective, with referee John Brooks and VAR Stuart Atwell blamed for losing control of the game, Liverpool were relieved to leave north London with three points.
Virgil Van Dijk summed up the mood when he said: “The immediate reaction, coming off after a chaotic last five to ten minutes, is it was not great but to get the three points was massive.”
It was not all good news, with Isak injured by a Micky van de Ven tackle as he scored, plus possible injuries to his replacement Jeremie Frimpong and midfielder Florian Wirtz, who finally recorded his first assist in the league to set up Isak's opener.
“Hopefully the injuries won’t be too bad, added the Liverpool captain. “We all saw how bad it looked with Alex but hopefully it won’t be too bad. We need everyone. Everyone needs to recover quickly as well to be ready for Wolves.”
The Reds host Wolves on Saturday, before taking on Leeds and then Fulham, all winnable games against sides battling relegation. They visit Arsenal on January 8th, by which time Liverpool's position could look a lot more respectable, having struggled from September to November with a run of nine defeats in 12 games. “Obviously when you lose at a club like Liverpool it’s always bad, no matter how it happens.”
Now they are unbeaten in six matches, and have won their last three to join fourth-placed Chelsea on 29 points. Is Champions League qualification back on? “The aim is to try to win every game ahead of us. Unfortunately this season has had a lot of difficult moments in terms of the results that we’ve not been getting, the performances at times as well.
“The only thing that we can do is try to be better, try to get performances. We have a lot of opportunities to show what we can do. For us it’s just staying calm, taking each game as it comes.
“Today we won. We have a couple days off to recover and focus on Wolves, which will be a tough game.
“Up until then, we have Christmas. It’s nice because being with your family and being healthy are the most important things in life.”
And rarely for a footballer, there will be no training on the big day. “We actually have Christmas Day off, so it’ll be nice to be together with my family, my kids and my wife. I don’t think it’s happened in my Premier League career, so it’s a nice change.
“I’ll be at home on Christmas Eve as well so that’s nice too, and I’ll make the most of it. The staff picked it like this and it works well for everyone. It’s very special to be off on Christmas Day, and I’ll make the most of it being at home with my family. I'm really looking forward to it.”
It will not be such a happy Christmas in the households of Tottenham's players, now they have slipped into the bottom half of the table after seven defeats in the past 12 games.
Thomas Frank was critical of Brooks for upgrading Simons' card from yellow to red after being prompted by Atwell to review the Dutchman's foul on Van Dijk, but then failing to intervene when Ekitike pushed Romero over before heading the winning goal.
“There were clearly two hands in his (Romero's) back. I don’t understand how you can do that. You have seen that a thousand times elsewhere on the pitch, someone will go up for a header, two hands in the back and ‘boom’ foul. But apparently not in the penalty box. I think that was the biggest mistake in my opinion from the referee and VAR.”
He also felt Simons' dismissal was harsh. “It's probably too big to say the game has gone, but for me it’s not reckless and it’s not exceptional force. Are we not allowed to have physical contact anymore? We see that tackle plenty of times without a red card, and I'm pleased Arne (Slot) agreed with me.”
Van de Ven said it was the game's turning point, with Liverpool looking surprisingly timid before Simons' dismissal. “Up until the red card, we were playing really well. We pushed Liverpool back sometimes and we created good opportunities. After the red card we know it would be really tough against Liverpool with ten men, but we kept going, the crowd pushed us on. I'm proud of the team.
"Unfortunately, I'm gutted, disappointed, angry at how things went. But we have to take the positives into our next game.”
: Vicario 6; Porro 6, Romero 5, van de Ven 7, Spence 7; Bentancur 6, Simons 5, Gray 6 (Palhinha 71); Kudus 6 (Johnson 58), Kolo Muani 7 (Richarlison 80), Bergvall 6 (Odobert 71)
: Alisson Becker 8; Bradley 6 (Isak 46 [Frimpong 60] {Chiesa 89}, Konate 5, van Dijk 6, Kerkez 6; Gravenberch 6, Jones 7; Szoboszlai 6, Wirtz 7, MacAllister 6; Ekitike 7.
John Brooks 3
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