Virgil van Dijk discussed 'nervous' referee with Fulham players during Liverpool draw

Virgil van Dijk has moved to defend referee Tony Harrington, despite the Liverpool captain describing the official as nervous.

Anfield hosted a thriller with Fulham taking the lead after just 11 minutes. But the visitors were lucky to still have 10 men on the field. Issa Diop received a yellow card within two minutes for his challenge on Andy Robertson, with VAR checking for a red.

In the end it 'confirmed the referee’s call of reckless challenge and yellow card'. Then came Pereira's tackle. Former Premier League referee Mike Dean was certain the ex-Manchester United player should have been sent off.

On Sky Sports, he said: "He goes just above the Achilles and scrapes down to the top of his boot. In my opinion he's nowhere near the ball, knew what he was doing, it should have 100 percent been a red card."

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But again a yellow was given. And in a cruel twist of fate it was Pereira who then opened up the scoring for Fulham. The Fulham midfield stretched for Antonee Robinson's cross, connecting on the volley with the ball bouncing in off Robertson.

The Scot's evening got worse six minutes later when he was sent off. Robertson took down former teammate Harry Wilson who was haring down on goal with Harrington producing a straight red.

Robertson was nearly saved by an offside call before VAR checked and confirmed Wilson was indeed onside. "The referee issued a red card to Robertson for a foul on Wilson which denied a goal scoring opportunity," the Premier League posted on X. "VAR checked to confirm the red card and that Wilson was in an onside position."

It was a busy first 20 minutes for Harrington, who then expienced a rollercoaster game with Liverpool twice equalizing before grabbing a vital point. Van Dijk didn't land all the blame for his team's draw at the feet of the referee, but did explain he found Harrington tough to talk to.

Van Dijk told Premier League Productions: "I had conversations with the players of Fulham and we felt like the referee was nervous. He couldn't properly communicate with Robertson I felt. We can't put the blame on the referee.

“We all speak about protecting the referee but I couldn't speak to him. It shouldn't be a big thing because he isn't why we dropped points.”