That's unacceptable, says Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk after shock loss

Watford's Ismaila Sarr (centre) celebrates with teammates after scoring against league leaders Liverpool in an English Premier League match at Vicarage Road Stadium in Watford on Saturday night. Pics/ AFP

Liverpool centre-back Virgil van Dijk lamented an "unacceptable" display after the team's run of 44 games without defeat in the Premier League ended with a shock 0-3 loss away to strugglers Watford on Saturday. "First of all credit to Watford, they deserve it... It's a tough one to take but that's football," van Dijk told Sky Sports after the stunning reverse at Vicarage Road. "We have to improve and we will." Reigning European champions Liverpool, bidding for their first title of the Premier League era, were undone by Ismaila Sarr's second-half double and a 72nd-minute goal from Troy Deeney.

Defeat ended Liverpool's hopes of winning their first English championship crown in 30 years with an unbeaten season as they lost in the league for the first time since January 2019. "We have to improve we have to do better," said van Dijk, with Liverpool still a mammoth 22 points clear of second-placed Manchester City, the current English title-holders, despite this defeat.

Virgil van Dijk

"It's not acceptable we lose 3-0 here." Saturday's remarkable loss put paid to Liverpool's hopes of equalling Arsenal's celebrated 'Invincibles', who enjoyed an unbeaten campaign while winning the 2003/04 Premier League title as part of a sequence of 49 top-flight matches without defeat. But Dutch international van Dijk said: "Losing hurts, the records are only for the media. We want to win our next game [against Chelsea in the FA Cup on Tuesday], we want to strike back straight away."

Victory saw Watford climb out of the relegation zone, albeit on goal difference alone, and elated goalkeeper Ben Foster said: "It's easy if you do it like that - we had a game plan and stuck to it well." Defeat at Vicarage Road continues a downturn in Liverpool's form as they sneaked past relegation-threatened Norwich and West Ham in their two previous league games and lost the first leg of their Champions League last 16 tie to Atletico Madrid.

Manager Jurgen Klopp said: "What the boys did so far is exceptional but it is not over. We did not expect the number of games we won. It was never easy, so now let's carry on. Shape, form is not something we can take for granted. The biggest surprise for me is that Watford are fighting to stay in the league. So, we don't think it's the biggest catastrophe in the world of football."

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