Virgil van Dijk makes Matheus Cunha admission as Liverpool proves bold Arne Slot claim right

 Virgil van Dijk admitted Liverpool was “sloppy” in its 2-1 win over Wolves, with the Reds captain giving credit to the visitors’ Matheus Cunha for setting up a nervy finish at Anfield.

Liverpool had looked to be on course for a simple enough win after Luis Diaz’s opener and Mohamed Salah’s penalty put the hosts 2-0 up at half-time. They continued to push forward after the break, with a second from Salah being ruled out for offisde before the Egyptian was denied another chance from the spot after VAR overturned the penalty won by Diogo Jota.

Soon after, Cunha curled a brilliant finish home from distance to suddenly crank up the tension inside Anfield. The Reds were given more than a few scares during the later stages of the game as they desperately tried to cling to the three points that would take them seven points clear of Arsenal in the title race again.

Eventually, they did manage to see the victory out, although Van Dijk’s reaction afterward spoke volumes, especially about Cunha’s impact.

"We'd love to dominate for the full 90 minutes but it is the Premier League and Wolves can punish you and create dangerous moments against you,” Van Dijk told BBC Sport. “It says a lot we kept fighting and kept going and got the three points.

"Today showed at times that when we have the ball you can exploit it as well. Cunha was a danger man for them today we had to be aware of. Unfortunately he scored but we kept them to that.

"I definitely give them credit the way they went one v one most of the times and how they found the free man between the lines.

"At times we were sloppy as well and we couldn't keep the ball as well as we can at times."

Van Dijk’s comments come after Arne Slot had pinpointed Cunha as a threat before the game, insisting that the Wolves star is capable of playing for any of the Premier League’s top sides.

"Wolves is 17th, if you go to the Dutch league and the team in 17th, there is no player that could play for Ajax, PSV or Feyenoord,” Slot said.

“But Matheus Cunha is a quality player and has the quality to play for one of the top five teams in England. That is one of the reasons why it is so difficult to win games in this league. We know it is going to be a tough game.”