20 hours ago
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Virgil van Dijk has reaffirmed the squad’s support for Arne Slot, insisting the team remains united despite mounting pressure.
The Reds snapped a four-game Premier League losing streak with a 2-0 win over Aston Villa, moving up to third place, seven points behind leaders Arsenal. It was much improved for Liverpool with the likes of Mohamed Salah, Conor Bradley and Alexis Mac Allister again showing their quality.
Both the players and Slot have come under heavy scrutiny over recent weeks due to performances and the Liverpool captain reflected on the need for the squad to stick together and to offer support for the Liverpool boss.
When asked whether the players felt they owed that performance to Slot, Van Dijk said: "I think we owe it to ourselves, to the fans, to everyone that's been supporting us through the tick and thin.
"We want to perform, they want to see us perform and it's just a win. We know there's still a lot of work to do and now it's time to recover and focus on the very big game on Tuesday."
Supporters also showed their support for the Liverpool boss by singing his name throughout the game which was heard by the captain: "I heard that, yeah."
The 34-year-old added: "Yeah, well, obviously I've heard the reports as well about him being on the pressure and stuff, but I don't think we play at the club that do the rushed decisions.
"I think we all felt, and I think you all can agree on that, that we can work our way out of this. Obviously, it's not a guarantee, but we can do it together.
"As long as we believe, as long as stay humble and keep working, I feel like we can it. We all have that feeling. We have to keep going and obviously you never know what happens, it's football, this is the life we live. But we have to keeping going and I feel like internally there's no doubt that we can do this together."
Liverpool now turns its attention to a crucial Champions League clash with Real Madrid, followed by a key Premier League trip to to the Etihad to face Manchester City.
On the key factors that enabled the Reds to get back on track with its best performance of the season so far, Van Dijk said: "I think it was just a good performance. I think we worked very hard in defending as a team, guys up front, midfield, back line, goalie. That was obviously key to the clean sheet, so that helps massively and we have the quality to score goals and just a win and now we move on.
"Yeah, it's a team thing isn't it? You need everyone to be at their best to win games and obviously today I think we played a solid game and we got the well-deserved three points. Now we go home, recover and we focus on Real Madrid."
The Villa game also saw Giorgi Mamardashivili earn his first clean sheet as a Red. Speaking on the significance of clean sheets and the confidence it brings the squad, the Dutchman added: [It is] important because we won the game.
"It definitely helps but it's about winning games and hopefully not conceding because that's what we work so hard for as a team. Not only the last line, not only the goalie, but everyone.
"And that's always been the case, by the way. I've always mentioned that. Today, everyone did their part, and we got a well-deserved clean sheet and a great win."
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