Virgil van Dijk's 'Arsenal' slip up shows true extent of Premier League title race with Liverpool

Virgil van Dijk almost namechecked Arsenal when giving credit to Aston Villa for their performance during Liverpool's 2-2 draw on Wednesday. Arne Slot's side missed the chance to go 10 points clear at the top of the Premier League after they were held at Villa Park.

Mohamed Salah gave the Reds the lead in the 29th minute and they were in control, until Villa mounted a fightback at the end of the first half. Youri Tielemans levelled for Villa with an instinctive finish from inside the box, before Ollie Watkins put Unai Emery's side ahead just before the interval.

However, Liverpool responded once again at the start of the second period and equalised in the 61st minute through Trent Alexander-Arnold's deflected strike. The Reds could and should have won it, with Darwin Nunez missing a guilt-edge chance to put them in front.

Arsenal fans won't care less about that, though, as Slot's men had to settle for a point in the West Midlands. Although it's not the win that the Reds would have wanted, the point does extend their unbeaten run in the Premier League to 22 matches, with their only defeat coming against Nottingham Forest.

Liverpool sit eight points ahead of second-place Arsenal having played a game more. And after the game, it's clear that Reds captain Van Dijk had the Gunners on his mind in his post-match interview.

Speaking to TNT Sports, Van Dijk was very close to saying "credit to Arsenal" instead of Aston Villa when paying respect to their opponents' performance. The defender was pinpointing how Liverpool should have scored another to win 3-2, before deciding to credit Villa for how they played and made it difficult for them.

In full, Van Dijk said: "A bit disappointed but we fight. We had chances to win the game, took a bit of a risk at the end so it got more open at times. We take a point and move on and focus on a big one at the weekend, again.

"In possession we did quite well, created good opportunities to score the second. Disappointing to concede from a set-piece. We tried everything and unfortunately it wasn’t enough for three points.

"We should have scored 3-2, but credit to Ars... Aston Villa, they made it very difficult. We have a very tough one on the weekend again, then we play Newcastle, our focus now will be on Man City, a very difficult game, we know that. Do everything in your power to win games, the focus will be that on Sunday again."