Toby Wilding

Fri 4 April 2025 16:30, UK

Liverpool centre-back Virgil van Dijk has been described as a “serial offender” by Keith Hackett in the wake of the Merseyside derby clash with Everton.

Arne Slot‘s side look to be well on their way to claiming the Premier League title in his first season in charge at Anfield with the Dutchman a big reason for that success.

Liverpool beat local rivals Everton 1-0 at Anfield on Wednesday (2 April) to edge another step closer to lifting the trophy, as they sit 12 points clear of second place Arsenal, with eight games still to be played.

While Diogo Jota may have got the only goal of the game, there were plenty of other controversies during the course of the game that came under scrutiny.

Virgil van Dijk criticised after historic and recent incidents

Just 11 minutes into the game, Everton defender James Tarkowski was extremely lucky not to be sent off following a high studs up challenge on Liverpool midfielder Alexis Mac Allister.

While that was the major talking point, Hackett also told Liverpool News 247 that Van Dijk was lucky not to be punished for dragging Tarkowski to the floor inside the Everton area later in the game.

Now, Hackett, a former PGMOL chief and ex-FIFA official, has taken aim at the Reds captain for what he feels is a string of offences over the years.

Amid the scrutiny around the foul from Tarkowski, Joey Barton shared a clip of a similar challenge by Van Dijk during a Champions League match with Napoli in 2018, that he avoided punishment for, writing: “Different rules when it’s Liverpool players on other players. Surely, everyone knows that.”

Responding to that post from Barton, Hackett wrote: “Joey we are looking at a serial offender who gets away with too much. This challenge unacceptable.”

Liverpool captain at the eye of a storm

Football Insider Verdict

Given what happened in the Merseyside derby with the challenge by Tarkowski on Mac Allister, it is unlikely that Van Dijk would have expected his own challenges to be the centre of the discussion.

However, in the same way that Tarkowski should have been sent off in the Merseyside derby, the Liverpool centre-back was lucky not to be be sent off for such a similar challenge historically.

He was also fortunate that he was not spotted dragging down the Everton man during this most recent game at Anfield.

Given his reputation, and how it is perceived that he benefits from it, fans of opposition clubs are always going to be keen to point out these contradictions which they feel have worked against their own team, or in favour of a rival.

Indeed, inconsistencies over decisions such as these that appear so simple certainly do not help referees when it comes to claims of their bias, and makes it even more important they eradicate such mistakes.

Hackett has suggested Van Dijk has been lucky to avoid punishment for Liverpool over incidents earlier this season, amid his latest claims that the centre-back gets away with more than he should.

So with these controversies receiving such attention it will be interesting to see if the Dutchman is watched even more closely going forward.