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Van Dijk injury blow for Liverpool in Merseyside derby as Pickford avoids red card for wild lunge

October 17, 2020 No Comments

The Everton goalkeeper crashed into the Dutch defender, leaving him crumpled on the turf, but the offside flag came to the rescue for the Toffees

Liverpool suffered an early injury blow in their Merseyside derby with Everton after seeing Virgil van Dijk forced off after just 11 minutes following a wild lunge from Jordan Pickford.

The Reds were already in front when the controversial incident occurred, with Sadio Mane breaking the deadlock with less than three minutes on the clock.

Jurgen Klopp’s side were looking for a second when their Dutch defender picked up an untimely knock.

Van Dijk sought to get onto the end of a ball that looped beyond the far post. Pickford raced out to meet the Liverpool centre-half and clattered into him, leaving him crumpled on the turf.

Everton’s goalkeeper, who has faced plenty of questions regarding his reliability over recent weeks, faced an anxious wait before discovering what the match officials had given.

An offside flag came to his rescue, with a VAR review deeming that the right call had been made. That got Pickford off the hook as he could have been facing at least a penalty, and potentially a red card.

Liverpool’s frustration at missing out on a spot kick was compounded when, after receiving treatment on the field, a talismanic part of their plans was forced off and straight down the tunnel.

It now remains to be seen how serious the problem picked up by Van Dijk is and how long he will be out of action for.

His absence was felt almost immediately by Liverpool, with Everton dragging themselves back into a lively contest in the 19th minute. With no Van Dijk around to organise at the back, Michael Keane headed home an equaliser.

Fabinho was unable to contain the threat posed by an England international, and he powered past Adrian to restore parity.

Liverpool knew they were going to face a response from their hosts after hitting the front so early in a keenly-contested fixture.

Mane’s goal, which saw him drill home Andy Robertson’s low cross from the left, made history for the men from Anfield. No player has ever been as quick out of the blocks on derby day for the Reds in the Premier League era.

Keeping opponents out has, however, been an issue for the defending champions in 2020-21 and another opportunity to collect a clean sheet has passed them by.

The Reds centre-back believes it’s important for the club not to let the loss drive them crazy but is eager to see a positive response

Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk has called for calm after seeing his side suffer a humiliating 7-2 defeat at the hands of Aston Villa in the Premier League on Sunday.

Jurgen Klopp’s side were humbled away from home by Villa, who scored four goals in the first 45 minutes and wrapped up the win despite having just 30 per cent of possession across the match.

This was the first time the Reds have conceded seven goals in any competitive game since 1963, while they are the first reigning English top-flight champions to ship so many goals in a league match since Arsenal did so against Sunderland in 1953.

While a monumentally bad result for Liverpool, Van Dijk was quick to pay respect to Dean Smith’s side and called on his team to react appropriately to the defeat.

“It’s hard to lose the way we lost tonight. First and foremost well done to Aston Villa, we have to give them the credit they deserve,” Van Dijk told Sky Sports post-match.

“It was one of those performances where we weren’t 100 per cent at it from start to finish. The goals we conceded we should have done, but also the chances that we had, we should have done better. Overall we’re all disappointed, we shouldn’t have lost with the numbers that we did but it’s about sticking together and making sure it doesn’t happen again.

“You can’t take the credit away from Aston Villa, but we should have been more clinical. In all aspects of the game we should have done much better. It’s important not to get crazy but we’ve got to step it up and the performance level between the Arsenal league win and today was too big.”

On the absence of Sadio Mane and Alisson, he added: “We prepared well and we played a good game against Arsenal in mid-week. Our preparation was good and we were ready for it before the game. Unfortunately in the game it didn’t happen how we wanted it to.”

Aston Villa forward Ollie Watkins claimed a hat-trick against Liverpool and believes he should have had even more goals to his name.

“I can’t believe it really. Getting one goal is good but three is unbelievable. I think 1-0 up gives us confidence, we grew into the game and punished them,” he told BBC’s Match of the Day.

“I came away with a hat-trick but think I could have got more. It is bitter sweet.”