Exclusive: Ex-FIFA ref hits out at unseen Van Dijk footage in Liverpool win v Everton
Liverpool took all the bragging rights from the final Merseyside derby of the 2024-25 campaign on Wednesday night.
The Reds came out on top of a hard-fought game against Everton, where Diogo Jota scored the only goal to take his team one step closer to lifting the Premier League.
However, it wasn’t plain sailing for Arne Slot’s men as the Toffees certainly made them work for the result and pushed them all the way.
But Liverpool were able to bounce back from their recent slump after a poor run before the international break, with their focus now being on winning the title.
Keith Hackett highlights a missed foul by Virgil Van Dijk
The fixture did feature some feisty moments as tempers flared in a manner that is expected of this fixture, but Virgil Van Dijk appeared to get away with one foul.
Previously unseen footage was shown on X by a fan who highlighted Van Dijk dragging Everton’s James Tarkowski down to the floor inside the Toffees’ own penalty box.
| Match Stats | Van Dijk |
| Accurate Passes | 74/83 (89%) |
| Touches | 102 |
| Defensive Actions | 15 |
| Duels Won | 9 |
Nothing came of the incident in the moment, but former FIFA official Keith Hackett believes that the Liverpool captain should have been punished.
Speaking exclusively to Liverpool News, Hackett said: “Sadly, Virgil Van Dijk does have a track record of getting away with offences on a regular basis.
“This incident should have been detected and brought to the attention of the referee by one of the assistant referees or the fourth official.
“It is in their remit to observe action behind the referee’s back. This is something that the referee will have covered in his pre-match instructions to his colleagues.”
James Tarkowski should also have been punished
Tarkowski might have been the victim of this particular incident, but Liverpool fans were enraged that he stayed on the pitch after his 11th-minute horror tackle on Alexis Mac Allister.
The Everton defender was awarded a yellow card for the challenge as VAR didn’t intervene, despite the obvious severity of the issue, and the PGMOL has since admitted their mistake and revealed he should’ve been dismissed.
The Toffees star has been on the end of some distasteful social media abuse since that point, as his wife revealed that he has received death threats because of the tackle from some fans.