West Ham star admits Virgil van Dijk plan failed miserably in Liverpool defeat

West Ham United midfielder Mateus Fernandes has admitted that Nuno Espirito Santo's Virgil van Dijk plan failed miserably in its defeat at Liverpool in the Premier League

Mateus Fernandes of West Ham United.(Image: Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

Liverpool relied heavily on set-pieces as it beat West Ham United in the Premier League on Saturday, with visiting midfielder Mateus Fernandes admitting that his side's plan for Virgil van Dijk failed.

With Liverpool already 1-0 ahead through Hugo Ekitike's smart finish early on in the game, Van Dijk doubled the Reds' lead around halfway through the first half with a header from a corner.

Dominik Szoboszlai swung the ball into the box and Van Dijk powered home, evading those around him in a crowded penalty area to put Liverpool in a commanding position. Alexis Mac Allister netted a third before the interval.

"Three set pieces," Fernandes told Sky Sports. "We worked this week about Van Dijk. We tried our best and this is football. We have another game, we need to win the game.

"We are getting better every week. We know the quality of our squad, the manager. We need to be ready for the next game. Rest well, eat well, drink well."

West Ham remains inside the bottom three and trailing Nottingham Forest, while Liverpool has moved up to fourth. The Reds are level with Manchester United, who play Crystal Palace tomorrow.

Virgil van Dijk applauds fans on the pitch after the English Premier League football match between Liverpool and West Ham United at Anfield in Liverpool, north west England, on February 28, 2026. Liverpool won the game 5-2.(Image: Getty)

"That’s very pleasing," Arne Slot said when asked about his team's newfound prowess from set-pieces.

"First of all, because that’s the reason why we won [and] second of all, because when I was just standing around your colleagues people said, ‘Well played, well played,’ and I said, ‘In my opinion, we’ve played better this season.’

"We played OK to good — so, we were OK to good but it wasn’t the best game of the season. We’ve played better when we’ve lost [and] we’ve played better when we conceded set-pieces.

"But as I always said, things went back to normal. We created quite a lot of chances from set-pieces in the first part of the season and almost every set-piece we conceded went in, and today you could see exactly the opposite happening.

"I think one of their first big chances was a set-piece that would have gone in in the first six or seven months [of the season], 100 per cent sure.

"But now we did it and we start scoring from set-pieces and then things look much brighter and better than when you don’t, and that’s really pleasing for us, for the team and for our fans as well."

Liverpool will face Wolves next. It then plays the Molineux team in the FA Cup and Galatasaray in the Champions League before returning to league action against Spurs.