Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk has hit back at Wayne Rooney for his ‘lazy’ criticism of the Dutchman and Mohamed Salah.

The Reds bounced back to winning ways on Saturday night by beating Aston Villa 2-0 after a seriously sticky patch for the Premier League champions.

Arne Slot’s side had lost four top flight games on the spin before that win over the Villains, also being knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Crystal Palace and suffering a surprise defeat in the Champions League to Galatasaray.

The poor run of form and results attracted plenty of comment and Rooney felt that their two most senior players were not leading the team as they should be.

The former Red Devils and England forward suggested Van Dijk and Salah had lost something since signing their new contract earlier this year.

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