Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk has backed his young defensive colleague Jarell Quansah to bounce back after his error away at Manchester United on Sunday afternoon

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk has insisted Reds team-mate Jarell Quansah should not dwell on his mistake that gifted Manchester United a goal on Sunday.

The two Premier League giants met at Old Trafford and Jurgen Klopp’s side were well aware that a win at the home of their fierce rivals would send them top.

However, the best Liverpool could manage was a 2-2 draw that saw the lead change hands, with the Reds going 1-0 up thanks to a Luis Diaz strike early on.

Virgil van Dijk has reflected on Liverpool’s draw with Man Utd

Two stunners from Bruno Fernandes and Kobbie Mainoo flipped the tie on its head, before a late Mohamed Salah penalty ensured the honours ended even. United’s first goal saw their captain arrow one home from just inside the Liverpool half, but it stemmed from a Quansah error.

The Anfield academy graduate was guilty of a sloppy sideward pass that allowed Fernandes to catch goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher off his line. However, Van Dijk has insisted that Quansah cannot be blamed for Liverpool dropping points during his post-match media duties.

Speaking to BBC MOTD, the Dutchman was asked if Quansah would be impacted by his mistake: “He shouldn’t. Mistakes happen in football everyone who has a career in football makes mistakes you can only learn from it.”

Van Dijk went on to discuss how Liverpool are feeling in the aftermath of what they clearly view as two points dropped. He added: “It feels Like a loss, it is our fault again.

“We had so many chances and we should finish the game off. Unfortunately the individual mistake that happened with the equaliser and we had so much time to put it right, but we were in a rush. Still after being 2-1 down we created so much.”

Liverpool’s Jarell Quansah gifted Man Utd their first goal
In truth, Liverpool could have been out of sight before the half-time whistle was blown. Salah and Dominik Szoboszlai were both guilty of rushing at chances and spurning glorious opportunities, much to Klopp’s frustration.

Van Dijk admitted his side should have gone in at the break boasting more of an advantage. The Reds captain claimed: “We should have been 2-0 up at least, but in football unfortunately if these things don’t happen you give them the feeling they could come back and it happened.”

The result means Liverpool now sit second in the table, level on points with league leaders Arsenal, but with a significantly inferior goal difference to the Gunners. Manchester City are breathing down the necks of both in third, just one point behind.