“‘Say what they want!’ – Virgil van Dijk hits back at Everton taunts with strong Liverpool statement”

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk will lead his team for the final Merseyside derby at Goodison Park against Everton on Saturday lunchtime.

Van Dijk emphasized that Liverpool is determined to make up for their disappointing performance in April’s Merseyside derby, where they were defeated 2-0 at Goodison Park. In that match, goals from Jarrad Branthwaite and Dominic Calvert-Lewin handed Liverpool their second derby loss since 2010.

Everton fans celebrated the victory, singing about how Liverpool “lost the league at Goodison Park,” but Van Dijk dismissed such taunts ahead of their final visit to Goodison before Everton moves to a new stadium on the waterfront.

“Who said that (Goodison defeat ended title hopes)?! Wow!” Van Dijk remarked, speaking after Wednesday’s 3-3 draw with Newcastle United. “They can say whatever they want! That game was very disappointing in so many ways, but Saturday is another opportunity.”

He continued, “It’s a game where they will definitely be up for it, but so will we. I’m really looking forward to it, going there with our fans, but we all know we need to improve — especially from the first half in terms of the fight in a good way.”

Van Dijk acknowledged that the season would have its ups and downs, but he remained confident about bouncing back, even after the Newcastle draw. “I knew already we are going to have ups and downs this year, this (Newcastle draw) is not a real down even if it feels like it at this point. We will be in, recovering and fresh and ready to attack the next challenge. We have to learn from the first half quite quickly.”

Speaking about Mohamed Salah, who scored twice against Newcastle to reach 15 goals for the season, Van Dijk said: “I think we all know how it works in football; one week you can say that [he’s the best in the world], next week they say something else. I want him to be important like he was in the second half, and Saturday is another big one, so hopefully he can keep it going.”

The captain also addressed goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher, who made a rare mistake, allowing Fabian Schar to score an equalizer late in the game. Despite this, Van Dijk defended Kelleher, who has impressed during Alisson Becker’s absence.

“Obviously, these things unfortunately happen in football,” Van Dijk said. “You have to keep going. Don’t listen to the reaction or people who will be very harsh on him in my opinion. There will always be people out there. He has had an outstanding season so far and he needs to keep going. We need him to be focused in a few hours when we’re back on the pitch. He will learn from this as we all have to learn from the first half and hopefully be ready for a very, very big one on Saturday, which will be very tough.”