Liverpool opened up their first competitive game with a loss on penalties to Crystal Palace in the Community Shield.
The club's new signings looked threatening, with Hugo Ekitike and Jeremie Frimpong scoring both of Liverpool's goals.
Liverpool looked shaky defensively, though, and the team committed a handful of mistakes that helped Palace.
Liverpool's captain, Virgil van Dijk, has now opened up on the team's performance and what they need to do to retain the Premier League title.
What did Van Dijk say about Liverpool's defense?
Following the loss, the Dutch international spoke to the media and said, "You defend as a team, you press as a team."
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Liverpool conceded in every preseason match, aside from a 5-0 win against Stoke.
Van Dijk continued, "I don’t know how many chances we gave away [against Palace], but I think there’s still maybe a handful in total.
"But the fact is that we conceded every game, apart from Stoke. That’s something we have to work on. I’m not worried whatsoever, because there’s also a reason why we were very defensively good last year. We have to get back to it."
The captain also backed Liverpool's management, saying, "I'm fully trusting the club to do the right thing. What they think is good for the club, we'll see in the next couple of weeks.
"It was quite tough the year after we won it," he said, speaking on Liverpool's last title defense. "We have to put it in our minds that whatever happened last season, happened last season.
"As a team, as a club, it was always going to be a tough season, especially with everything that happened over the summer as well. But the only way to overcome this is to do it together as a collective."
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