Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp told his players that squandering goals was to blame for their shock defeat at Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
Former Reds striker Taiwo Awoniyi was the Nottingham Forest hero as their season came to life with a famous 1-0 victory over Klopp's team – who slumped to a third Premier League defeat of the campaign. It was a game that had no shortage of chances for either side, who were both wasteful in front of goal.
Forest were deserving victors – missing a hatful of chances of their own – despite the visitors continually creating golden opportunities from set pieces, which they kept spurning despite sloppy marking in defence from Steve Cooper's side.
The result brought a halt to Liverpool's mini-resurgence in form, which saw them secure important and impressive home victories over Manchester City and West Ham respectively. The Reds now languish eighth in the Premier League standings having won just four of their opening 11 matches and losing three – more than they did in the entirety of last season.
Van Dijk said on the defeat at Forest during Tuesday's press conference, ahead of facing Ajax in the Champions League: "What the manager said after the game was that we only had ourselves to blame. I had a couple of opportunities to score and on another day, I would have."
The Dutch international defender added: "It was an intense six days. There are always reasons why things aren't going well. We try to sort it out and do everything in our power, so that is what we do. I don't think there is time for a shock within ourselves. Everyone can look in the mirror and know if they do something well or don't do something as good as they normally do."
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Reds boss Klopp reflected in his pre-match briefing: "We were actually in a good moment until we lost against Nottingham Forest. Do I expect us to play better consistency, yes and do I expect to make steps to get there, yes.
"Our performances are not as clear and as stable as they were, injuries explain that a little bit. In order to really click as a team, we need consistency. It started with injuries and then players without injuries have to play too often and players with injuries come back and have to play too early."
