Virgil van Dijk: Man United 'disrespected' before Liverpool draw

Posted Tuesday, January 07, 2025 by ESPN

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk has said he believes Manchester United were "disrespected" ahead of Sunday's 2-2 draw at Anfield.

A late equaliser from Amad Diallo denied Liverpool the victory after Arne Slot's side had cancelled out Lisandro Martinez's strike with goals from Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah.

The expectation heading into the match was that Premier League leaders Liverpool would comfortably beat United, who had lost three games in a row before their trip to Merseyside.

However, Ruben Amorim's side turned in arguably their most impressive performance of the season to keep Liverpool at arm's length, and Van Dijk has admitted he feels the media underestimated United before the game.

"Do I feel United were disrespected? Yeah," Van Dijk said after the match. "I heard in the press conference someone asked if we were going to rotate players against United.

"I was shocked. It is one of the biggest games of the season and United will always make it tough. To hear that, I was surprised.

"We are playing against a good opponent. I think everyone from the outside world forgets that judging by the sound that had been going around before the game. They have good players. They are obviously a work in progress like we are but they made it difficult for us."

Virgil van Dijk has said he always knew the clash against Manchester United would be tough.

Van Dijk also defended teammate Trent Alexander-Arnold, who has faced criticism for his lacklustre display against United. Both Van Dijk and Alexander-Arnold -- alongside Salah -- are out of contract at the end of the season, but it is the right-back who has been at the centre of recent transfer speculation.

Real Madrid approached Liverpool last week about signing Alexander-Arnold in the January transfer window, though their advances were quickly rebuffed by the club. Some fans and pundits have suggested the 26-year-old's disappointing performance on Sunday was linked to the noise surrounding his future, but Van Dijk disagrees.

"No. I am fine with it," the centre-back said. "Trent has his own people around him, his family and we are there as well.

"He wants to perform in the best way possible like we all do. That is the main focus. In my opinion, maybe ask him, that is the distraction, the game."