"In the end they deserve the win. That's the disappointing thing" - Van Dijk makes claim as Liverpool lose to Chelsea

Virgil van Dijk has admitted that Chelsea deserved the win over Liverpool in the Premier League on Sunday, May 4. The Dutchman added that the Reds missed their chances to get back in the game despite training well during the week.

After the 3-1 loss at Stamford Bridge, Van Dijk claimed that Liverpool did well when they had possession but were unable to press when they lost the ball. He claimed the early goal was tough, and Chelsea were not pressed on the ball today. He said via Liverpool.com:

"I think possession was quite good, but when we didn't have the ball the pressing wasn't great and they could find between the lines. To concede that early is not great, but if we start to play the way we want to play then we can create chances. There were chances for us to score - in the end they deserve the win. That's the disappointing thing as we came here to win. Obviously we tried, but it wasn't great. The way we trained, the sharpness that we had, everyone was ready for it."

Enzo Fernandez scored the early goal of the match in the third minute to give the Blues the lead at halftime. An own goal from Van Dijk off Jarrell Quansah saw the home side take a 2-0 lead before the Reds captain pulled one back with six minutes to go.

However, the away side could not score an equalizer, and the home side managed to win a penalty deep into injury time. Cole Palmer stepped up and scored to seal the 3-1 win and end his goal drought.

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Arne Slot taking positives from Liverpool loss at Chelsea

Arne Slot spoke to the media after the 3-1 loss to Chelsea and claimed that the home side were too comfortable on the ball. He was proud of his players for not giving up despite going 2-0 down and said via the club's official website:

"Nothing good comes from losing a game of football, but if I have to take the positives there were definitely a few positives. Dominating ball possession at Stamford Bridge is not what many teams do over here because Chelsea are so comfortable with the ball as well. Being 2-0 down, don't give up, try to fight ourselves back into the game - and that's what we did.

"We already had two big chances which we didn't score and then Chelsea were on the counter-attack a few times [and] very threatening. Maybe [it was] the opposite from the home game where they dominated possession and we won. Now it was the opposite."

The win saw Chelsea move to fifth in the Premier League, level on points with Newcastle United and just three points behind second-placed Arsenal.