Captain Virgil Van Dijk dismissed any fears Liverpool have stumbled in their title bid.

Diogo Jota’s equaliser, just 22 seconds after the substitute came on, earned a point at Nottingham Forest on Tuesday.

Arne Slot’s side have won three of their last seven Premier League games but still have a six-point lead over second placed Forest before Arsenal play Tottenham on Wednesday night.

They also lost their Carabao Cup semi-final first leg to Tottenham 1-0 last week.

“Ooh, so we are in a crisis now?” joked Netherlands international Van Dijk, when Liverpool’s form was put to him.

“It only confirms the Premier League is a very tough league where you play against opponents who are very good.

“It was always going to be tough, same with [Manchester] United at home with their new manager and the game plan they have been showing especially against the bigger teams.

“Every game is tough, we have to find a way to win and I think if we play like we did in the second half and keep fighting, keep trying, keep finding opportunities then I am very confident we will score goals as well like we have been doing all season.”

The leaders have come from behind five times in their last seven league games, including in their 2-2 draw with United, with Van Dijk praising their character.

The 33-year-old added: “It shows resilience, no one wants to come from behind, we have to keep working on that and have everyone in the best shape to prevent that. All we can do is try to do it in the next game better.”

Van Dijk felt it was two points dropped at the City Ground, having conceded Chris Wood’s early opener.

The visitors dominated the second half with Matz Sels twice denying Jota, while Ola Aina blocked Mohamed Salah’s late effort on the line.

“We should have won, could have won, but the reality is we take a point at a difficult ground,” said Van Dijk.

“We created many chances and we could have won the game against a team that doesn’t concede many chances, they had kept clean sheets in the last four games so that says a lot.

“I think we could have scored at least a couple of goals.”