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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
Sport
Stephen Killen

Virgil van Dijk makes Liverpool 'rollercoaster' admission and sends 'belief' message to team-mates

Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk has called on his teammates to stick together after enduring form they're not "used to".

The Reds had to come from two goals down to salvage a point against Arsenal at Anfield on Sunday. Gabriel Martinelli broke the deadlock after capitalising on a comedy of errors which saw Andy Robertson slip, the ball ricochet off the Dutchman and into the Brazilians' path before beating Alisson Becker.

He was in the thick of it for the second goal as well after getting in behind Trent Alexander-Arnold and crossing for Gabriel Jesus to head home unmarked. Liverpool clawed back the deficit through Mohamed Salah as Roberto Firmino continued his fine goalscoring form against the Gunners.

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Despite finding themselves down, Jurgen Klopp's side fought back and could've easily claimed three points rather than one as Salah fired his penalty the wrong side of the post on the hour mark with Ibrahima Konate failing to convert from inside six yards in the dying minutes.

Van Dijk has been a target for criticism this season for his performances in a disappointing campaign for the Reds. After chasing the quadruple last season, just 11 months on, they are staring down the barrel of falling short of Champions League qualification.

In an Instagram post, the 31-year-old described the campaign so far as a "rollercoaster" and expressed his belief at "creating more special moments together".

He said: "Crazy game! A rollercoaster season for sure. This is not the form that we are used to both individually & collectively, so we must stick together.

"With hard work we all believe we can get back to creating more special moments together.

"This team will never give up."

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