Liverpool star Virgil van Dijk has broken his silence after being branded 'arrogant' for his mistake against Leeds United.

The Reds are looking to retain their Premier League crown after storming to the title last season.

First in their pathway stood Leeds, who won the Championship in the previous term with Marcelo Bielsa at the helm.

What ensued was a match fo mayhem, with seven goals, a hat-trick, penalty kicks and a bunch of defensive errors.

And one even came from an unlikely source in Van Dijk, who gifted Patrick Bamford a goal after a shocking touch.

The Dutchman had earlier scored in the match after a thumping header but that will be forgotten after his error.

Fortunately, Mohamed Salah was in fine form – scoring a hat-trick to see Liverpool claim all three points.

After the clash, pundits debated Van Dijk's gaffe and even remarked that the former Southampton star was arrogant to play so lackadaisical.

But the 29-year-old has insisted it was nothing more than a coincidental error.

"It was one of those… they are situations that can happen," he told beIN Sports.

"I always try to do my best and that's what I did. Unfortunately, a goal came from it but I don't worry about that."

For an opening day in the Premier League, it was special way for the two champions of the top two divisions in English football.

And Jurgen Klopp could not hide his delight, though his mood may have been different had Leeds managed a win.

He told Sky Sports: "I congratulated everyone of their team, what a team they are. Unbelievable. I will watch them quite often during the season.

"What a game, what an opponent, what a performance from both teams. A proper spectacle, I loved that.

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"It is pretty rare you see that many goals in a game, we have left space for improvement in our defending but that is not unusual for a first game.

"Our players have played a few days ago for their countries so it is possible.

"The opponent forced us to make mistakes, we can do better, we will do better but I loved a lot about the game against a well-organised, passionate side like Leeds.

"We used our skills to cause them problems, we could have scored more and in the end we used set-pieces which is fine by me.

"It is not like riding a bike, you can lose something in pre-season and it takes time to all come together again.

"I am really positive about this game. Leeds will have a good season if they can keep up that intensity and they did it in the Championship with more games so why not?"

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