The Liverpool captain made his 200th Premier League appearance as the Reds beat fierce rivals Manchester United 3-0 at Old Trafford

Virgil van Dijk revealed how he refocused his team-mates at half-time in Liverpool’s 3-0 defeat to Manchester United, reminding them of last season’s Old Trafford collapse. Mohamed Salah scored a third to add to Luis Diaz’s double after the break, while Arne Slot secured a stunning victory in just his third appearance as new manager at Anfield.

Liverpool’s two visits to United last season, in March and April this year, ended in a 4-3 FA Cup defeat despite leading twice, followed by a 2-2 draw in a match in which Liverpool dominated, damaging their chances of winning the Premier League title.

Van Dijk said he mentioned both results in a half-time chat in which the Liverpool captain celebrated his 200th Premier League appearance with a famous win.

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“Definitely (I feel special),” Van Dijk told Sky Sports. “It’s a proud moment, but what I’m most happy about is obviously the execution from start to finish.

“I said earlier in the meeting (before kick-off) that we want to have fun on the pitch and the only way to do that is to work hard when we have the ball and show the quality of others. I think we did that.

“Of course we missed two big chances and that’s something to improve on, but overall I think we dominated. I think we should have scored more goals, but overall I think winning 3-0 is a big improvement on last year.

“For me personally (last season’s results) it was a bit (in my head). I’m not the type of guy to hold grudges or anything like that, but I said at half-time we were 2-0 up and I think it was the same last year and we gave it back. It was something that wasn’t going to happen today, we had to stay focused and I think we did very well and I’m proud of the lads.”

Liverpool are second in the Premier League behind Manchester City on goal difference and will host Nottingham Forest after the international break on September 14.