‘Has to Change’—Virgil van Dijk Sends Stern Liverpool Warning Ahead of Critical Stretch

The Reds collected just one point from three Premier League matches in March.

Virgil van Dijk had some harsh words for his club. | Ryan Crockett/DeFodi Images/Getty Images

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk asserted the Reds’ struggles to “build on a good performance” cannot continue if they want to secure their place in the Champions League next season.

The defending English champions continued their woeful title defense on Saturday, falling 2–1 to Brighton & Hove Albion to end March without a win in the Premier League. Arne Slot’s men now have just a one-point cushion ahead of Chelsea in fifth place, with Brentford and Everton only three points back.

What made the result even more frustrating for Liverpool is that it came after a decisive 4–0 thrashing of Galatasaray midweek.

“I said over the last months the same thing: We can’t build on a good performance,” Van Dijk said after the defeat. “That is something that has to change if we are to achieve what we are trying to achieve, and that is Champions League football.”

“It’s down to us and so we have to do it as players, as a group. If we change that, then obviously we can be a very dangerous force, but at the moment, we are not.”

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Liverpool’s Fluctuating Form Backs Up Van Dijk’s Frustration

Arne Slot’s second season in charge at Liverpool has not gone to plan. | Liverpool FC/Getty Images

There are several reasons for Liverpool’s fifth-place standing in the Premier League this season. A slow start for blockbuster summer signings, a mountain of injuries and Mohamed Salah’s poor form have done the team no favors.

Yet as Van Dijk mentioned, the team’s staggering inconsistency is perhaps the most frustrating part of its 2025–26 campaign. One day the Reds will show last season’s quality and topple teams with a swagger fitting for the 20-time English champions, and then the next, they’ll look lost, uncreative and vulnerable at the back.

In the last three months alone, Liverpool have claimed dominant victories only to follow them up with head-scratching defeats. Take a look below at several back-to-back fixtures and their results:

• Jan. 21: Liverpool defeats Marseille 3–0 in the Champions League
• Jan. 24: Liverpool suffers a 3–2 defeat to Bournemouth in the Premier League

• Jan. 31: Liverpool defeats Newcastle United 4–1 in the Premier League
• Feb. 8: Liverpool suffers a 2–1 defeat to Manchester City in the Premier League

• Feb. 28: Liverpool defeats West Ham United 5–2 in the Premier League
• March 3: Liverpool suffers a 2–1 defeat to Wolves in the Premier League

• March 18: Liverpool defeats Galatasaray 4–0 in the Champions League
• March 21: Liverpool suffers a 2–1 defeat to Brighton in the Premier League

Just when the Reds take one step forward, they take two back. The club has now collected just one point out of a possible nine in March, setting up a stressful final two months of the term to make sure it holds off Chelsea for the fifth and presumed final spot in the Champions League for English clubs next season.

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Van Dijk Refuses to Blame Injuries for Liverpool’s Struggles

Liverpool are sweating over the fitness of Hugo Ekitiké. | Shaun Brooks/CameraSport/Getty Images

Injuries are wreaking havoc on Liverpool at the most crucial time of the season. It is bad enough that Alexander Isak, Wataru Endō, Conor Bradley and Giovanni Leoni are already sidelined with long-term issues, but now they have more company in the infirmary.

Mohamed Salah is nursing a muscular injury, Alisson is out for the foreseeable future, Hugo Ekitiké was forced to come off the pitch after just eight minutes at the Amex Stadium and now Federico Chiesa withdrew from Italy’s squad for the international break.

Losing Ekitiké at the weekend, in particular, was a major blow for the Reds. "When Hugo comes off, and you look at the team, there was not a lot of runs in behind," Van Dijk explained.

"There is not a lot on that side. That wasn’t the issue why we lost but it changed a bit of our game. When he made changes, the formation changed and the positions changed, and then you’re asking different things.”

But for Van Dijk, Liverpool’s woes once again boil down to the same issue: “It’s a combination of everything but the matter of fact is that we can’t build on a good performance that we had midweek."

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