Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk has acknowledged that the Premier League champions must improve their poor record defending set-pieces if they want to maintain their recent positive form.
The Reds narrowly defeated bottom-placed Wolves 2-1 on Saturday, despite conceding their 12th league goal from a set-piece in just 18 games. No other team in the league has conceded more goals from set-pieces, while Liverpool have only scored three times from set-pieces themselves (excluding penalties). This results in a minus nine goal differential, their worst in any Premier League season.
Van Dijk said, “The fact is we’ve conceded too many set-piece goals and we don’t score enough. It’s something we have to improve. I would say at least 75 percent of the time or even more, it’s not even about the first contact. It’s the second phase that is the killer. Is it a mental thing? I hope not. If that’s in your head then it’s an issue. Personally, it’s not in my head.”
Liverpool manager Arne Slot has also criticized the team’s defending of dead-ball situations throughout the season. However, he sees signs of progress as Liverpool have won their last two matches against nine-man Tottenham and Wolves, despite conceding from corners in both games.
Slot commented, “Unfortunately we’re maybe the only team that hardly ever scores from a set-piece and, even worse, we constantly concede. But then, I think I said two, three or four weeks ago, we have to make sure that when things go against us, we still find a way to win. In the last two games we conceded from a set-piece but we were able to win and that hasn’t happened many times this season. That’s progress for me, but it’s obvious there are more things for us to improve and this is definitely one of them.”
Despite some unconvincing performances, Liverpool are currently on a seven-match unbeaten run. Three consecutive league wins have lifted them back into the top four, though they remain 10 points behind leaders Arsenal.
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