Immediate Action Needed: Van Dijk Highlights Issues Liverpool Must Fix After Frequent Premier League Set-Piece Concessions
On 29 Dec 2025, Virgil van Dijk, Liverpool's captain and defender, gave his latest interview ahead of the 19th Premier League match of the 2025-26 season, when Liverpool will host Leeds United on New Year's Day, 1 January.
Van Dijk admitted that Liverpool urgently needs to fix their set-piece defending problems after conceding 12 goals from such situations (corners, throw-ins, free-kicks) this season, excluding penalties—more than any other Premier League team this season.
In the most recent Premier League match, Liverpool beat Wolverhampton 2-1 but conceded a goal from Santiago Bueno's rebound off a corner. The previous week, when they won 2-1 away at Tottenham, Richarlison scored after Liverpool failed to clear a corner effectively.
This prompted Virgil van Dijk to urge his Liverpool teammates to immediately address their set-piece issues. “There have been many games where we defended set-pieces very well, but the truth is we concede too many goals from set-pieces and we don't score enough ourselves.”
“This is something we must improve. I think at least 75%, maybe more, of the problem isn’t just clearing the first ball but dealing with the second ball—that’s the key factor.”
“Is it a mental issue? I hope not. If it’s in your head, then it becomes a problem. Personally, it’s not in my head.”
“We have defended set-pieces very well many times, but we concede too many goals from them and it hurts. We must improve this. Training is the only way to get better.”
“It’s still not good enough, we all know that. We have talked about it. We need to turn this around, which is why we train on this almost every session.”
