Virgil van Dijk admits Liverpool were lucky to draw 2-2 with Man United and insists it ‘could have been A LOT worse’ after Harry Maguire’s huge miss in added time

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk said his team were lucky to leave with a draw against Manchester United – and insists it could have been much worse had Harry Maguire converted a last-minute chance.

England defender Maguire was unmarked in the penalty area and picked out by team-mate Joshua Zirkzee but, with the ball slightly bobbling up off the turf, he skied his effort over the bar.

And Van Dijk reckons Liverpool got away with one and said he was satisfied with a point. ‘It could have been a lot worse if we are absolutely honest with ourselves,’ said the Reds defender.

‘They had a big chance in the end that could have been a lot worse than where we are now. I’m definitely disappointed with dropping points at home but it is what is and we have to move on and we will.

‘We made it 2-1 and then it is about trying to manage the game and keep the ball for longer than three and four passes. We lost the ball too easily at times and then we were more open than we should have been. We’re not perfect, we’re still learning and we have to learn from this as well.’

Van Dijk dismissed talk of Liverpool taking United for granted with boss Arne Slot asked on Friday by one reporter if he would ‘rest’ players for what seemed like an easy game.

Harry Maguire blasted the ball over the bar in the dying seconds of the match at Anfield

Van Dijk thinks Liverpool got away with one and said he’s satisfied with a point from the game

The Dutch defender added: ‘That’s all the media. Media talk. It’s nothing to do with us. We prepared for a very tough game like we saw today. We didn’t think any of that.’

Slot agreed that Liverpool could have lost the game and said: ‘People forget all the chances we had. They had the open chance from Maguire. We had much more chances than them but in the end we could have definitely lost it with the Maguire chance.

‘We started really well, had three open chances in the game and then there was a period of time which was more difficult for us. It is difficult if you play quality players that are playing in a low block with only (Rasmus) Hojlund and (Amad) Diallo as attackers.

‘It’s not always easy to find the gaps and that’s what happened. Then being 1-0 down makes it even more difficult… but I was very happy with the mentality we showed afterwards, going 2-1 up.’