Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk slammed the team’s unacceptable performance after the loss to Watford, which also ended their 44-game unbeaten run in the Premier League.
The Hornets became the first team to beat Liverpool in the league this campaign after goals from Ismaila Sarr and the club captain Troy Deeney.
Jurgen Klopp’s side put in a poor performance which fell well below the standards they have set since they last lost a a league match back in January 2019.
After the game, Van Dijk said: ‘Credit to Watford they deserved it. The chances they created, they stuck to their plan and scored three goals.
‘We didn’t create too many big opportunities, but we shouldn’t take the credit away from Watford. We have to look at ourselves and improve again.
‘It’s a tough one to take but that is football. Today should have been better, but whole season we have been good defensively.
‘We know there is room for improvement and we will improve, that’s the good thing about our mentality.
‘It is not acceptable to lose here 3-0 and in this way as well.’
The Reds fell five games short of equalling Arsenal’s record of 49 Premier League matches without losing.
When asked about those records, Virgil van Dijk said: ‘Losing hurts but the records are only for the media, we didn’t mention it once.
‘We want to strike back and show what we’ve been doing the whole season.’
