'Not going to be special?' - Virgil van Dijk bites back at Michael Owen in awkward interview after Liverpool move closer to Premier League title with Everton win

Diogo Jota’s goal proved decisive as Arne Slot’s side restored their 12-point lead over Arsenal at the top of the table. Despite their strong position in the title race, Liverpool’s hopes of a quadruple have faded over the past two months. They suffered a shock FA Cup exit at the hands of Plymouth, were knocked out of the Champions League by Paris Saint-Germain, and fell to Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley.

Former Liverpool striker, Owen, shared his thoughts on the Reds' campaign on Premier League Productions and claimed that while winning the league would be a major achievement, there would still be a "bitter taste" given how the season initially shaped up.

"It’s been a frustrating couple of weeks," Owen said. "Liverpool were poised to have a phenomenal season, if they win the Premier League it’ll still be fantastic but with a little bit of a bitter taste because it was building into something special. I think it Liverpool fans hard, and the manager and the players, to go out of competitions in quick succession.

"The dust will settle, everyone will realise if it’s the Premier League they win at the end of the season and only the Premier League that’ll be an incredible season and they would’ve snapped your hand off for that at the start of the season. But it doesn’t stop the feeling of the last few weeks and to get that winning feeling back will be really important to everybody connected with the club."

During a post-match interview, Owen put this perspective directly to Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk, asking how difficult it was to mentally recover from cup disappointments and focus on finishing the Premier League season strongly.

Owen asked Van Dijk: "I’m just thinking in terms of the season so far, if you’d have said at the start of the season you were going to win the Premier League I’m sure people would’ve been over the moon. However, it was building into something really special – how hard was it after a couple of big defeats in cup competitions to get your mind tuned back into the Premier League and to finish the season well?"

Van Dijk, however, was visibly unimpressed by the suggestion that the team’s season had lost its magic. His response was direct: “So you’re suggesting the season is not going to be special anymore?”

Owen replied: "It will be, absolutely, it will be special, but I thought it could’ve been building into something very special."

However, Van Dijk was quick to challenge Owen and said: "Well, I think we have to change that narrative a little bit. We’re fighting for the biggest prize of the season, we worked so hard for it, 20 teams are working so hard to be on top of the Premier League. We have eight games to go, we know what’s at stake, we have to go for it, we have to fight, we have to enjoy the whole ride and then let’s see. Like I said, it’s still looking very special in my eyes.

"I think what you said, at the start of the season, I think no one expected us to even try to fight on all four fronts, obviously we’re at the stage now where we’re still fighting for the biggest, and that’s the reality. It’s still a possibility that this season will be very, very special."

Following the interview, Owen insisted his point was fair and added: "I stand by what I said. If you had said at the start of the season that Liverpool would win the Premier league, it’s a very, very top season. As Virgil said, not many people gave them a chance really, especially changing their manager after so long with Jurgen Klopp being there. However, it was building into something incredibly special and I just wondered after a couple of weeks of disappointment how hard was it to re-focus, but obviously he gave us the answer."

Liverpool will now shift their focus to their upcoming Premier League clash against Fulham on April 6.