Van Dijk calls for defensive improvement after defeat

Virgil van Dijk has acknowledged that Liverpool must improve defensively to retain the Premier League title, and backed the club to bring in more reinforcements before the end of the transfer window.

- Ed Aarons

Van Dijk revealed after the Community Shield on Sunday that he had spent the previous five days in bed with a virus. The defender was culpable for Palace's first equaliser in the 2-2 draw when he brought down Ismaïla Sarr for a penalty and Liverpool's defence struggled to contain the Senegal forward, who scored his team's second to take the game to a shootout won by Palace.

Aside from a 5-0 win against Stoke last month behind closed doors, Liverpool have conceded in all of their pre-season matches and their captain admitted that must be resolved before the opening league fixture at home against Bournemouth on Friday night. "If it was that simple, we would have fixed it," Van Dijk said.