Van Dijk receives ACL injury after VAR blunder - should VAR have stepped in?

Yet another VAR error has sparked controversy after the Liverpool CB received a horrid foul

Lewis Thompson
3rd November 2020
Image: Wikimedia Commons
Liverpool star, defender Virgil Van Dijk, is set to be side-lined for up to 7 months due to an ACL injury he received. Jordan Pickford committed a very rash challenge on the Dutchman, in Liverpool's 2-2 draw away to Everton at Goodison Park.

Thousands of fans have criticised the use of VAR in this situation, with many claiming that Pickford, Everton's goalkeeper, should’ve received a straight red card for the challenge. His tackle on Virgil van Dijk came while the defender was ruled offside, but VAR didn't suggest that Michael Oliver should go and have another look at the tackle.  

Many footballing experts have since came out and criticised the use of VAR, including popular pundit Gary Neville, who kept it short and sweet by simply stating, “Pen / Red Card”. 

As well as this lots of football fans took to Twitter to complain about not only the Van Dijk injury, but multiple VAR mistakes that had occurred during the game, including a ruling of offside on Sadio Mane, when Jordan Henderson thought he had won the game in the final few seconds for the reds. One claimed that “The game is gone”, when referring to all the VAR mishaps.  

https://twitter.com/LewisTh0mpson/status/1317459261912383488

Liverpool’s manger Jurgen Klopp explained to the fans that there will be “no timescale” on Van Dijk's recovery from knee ligament damage. This makes you think that he is very likely to not play another game in the 20/21 season.

With Van Dijk set to miss the rest of the season in its entirety, the Premier League has been made even more interesting than it already is, with Klopp and Liverpool needing to fight extra hard if they want any chance at retaining the league title. This period without Van Dijk in their side will either expose the club for their reliance on a single player, or prove to rival fans that they can still challenge for the title with the huge squad depth they have, with the likes of Fabinho being able to play in the defence and younger talents such as Rhys Williams being called up to the first team. Can Liverpool win the league again?

Featured Image: Twitter @FootyAccums

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