Liverpool lost only their second game of the 2024/2025 Premier League season after suffering a 3-2 defeat against Fulham.
Goals from Ryan Sessegnon, Alex Iwobi and Rodrigo Muniz cancelled out the strikes from Alexis Mac Allister and Luis Diaz as Arne Slot cut a forlorn figure after the contest.
Liverpool headed into their latest fixture needing just 11 points to win the league title but on Saturday, their performance was below par to say the least.
While rival fans celebrated witnessing Liverpool lose to Fulham, they could not understand why Virgil van Dijk escaped a red card for elbowing Sander Berge inside the penalty box.
Rival fans say Virgil van Dijk escaped red card during Fulham vs Liverpool
One Manchester United fan claimed that Van Dijk’s challenge of Berge during Liverpool’s defeat against Fulham is the kind of cynical challenge he gets away from on several instances, writing: “Van Dijk just blatantly elbowed someone but didn’t get punished for it. No idea how he gets away with it every time.”
A second supporter agreed, saying: “Virgil Van Dijk getting away with another dirty foul. Only he can elbow players every other match and not even get a yellow for it.”
A third fan, who supports Manchester United stated that after Van Dijk’s elbow on Berge, Liverpool scored a few moments later: “I literally just watched Van Dijk elbow someone in the throat and then Liverpool scored less than a minute later”
A fourth supporter added: “They are never beating the LiVARpool allegations. Did i just see a Van Dijk elbow?”
A Newcastle United fan mentioned that Van Dijk tends to elbow players frequently for Liverpool like he did against Fulham and yet, he is left unpunished: “Van Dijk gets away with throwing an elbow every single week.”
Finally, an Arsenal fan added that Van Dijk is perceived as a squeaky-clean defender when he is not, as was the case during Liverpool’s outing against Fulham: “Van Dijk is one of the most sneakily dirty players in the world. Has a reputation of being a perfect centre-back who never does anything bad but every other game puts an elbow into someone and never gets punished.”
Did Virgil van Dijk deserve a red card during Fulham vs Liverpool?
The Dutchman will receive plenty of criticism due to his challenge.
However, it would be harsh for Van Dijk to have been sent off against Fulham as the Liverpool captain did not seem to intend to elbow Berge and as the action was accidental, VAR could not consider his challenge as potentially dangerous.
