Virgil van Dijk told referee Stuart Attwell that he made a mistake when he neglected to send Lucas Bergvall off during Liverpool's defeat by Tottenham.

Bergvall was already on a yellow card when he clattered into Reds left-back Kostas Tsimikas, but he was spared a second booking and went on to score the game's winning goal a short while later. Tsimikas was still off the field at the time after receiving treatment, and Arne Slot was left furious.

Van Dijk confronted Attwell at full-time and was asked in a post-match interview with Sky Sports about his exchange with the official. He said: "I think it was quite obvious that it should have been a second yellow.

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"Obviously, I think it was a pretty clear, and it was a coincidence that a minute later he scores the winner. It is what it is, he made a mistake in my opinion and I told him that. He thinks maybe he didn't but it was quite obvious I think and everyone on the sideline knew exactly that it was supposed to be a yellow.

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"He should have been off. There's a linesman there, there's a fourth official, there's VAR, there's a referee and he doesn't get a second yellow. I'm not saying this is the reason why we lost but it was a big moment in the game."

For the first time since Arne Slot arrived at Anfield, Liverpool has gone two matches in a row without winning, and Van Dijk admitted the Reds had failed to find their best level once again, having also struggled to produce their best in the 2-2 draw with Manchester United on Sunday.

Asked to reveal the reasons behind Liverpool's loss to Spurs, Van Dijk said: "We played against an intense team, with good attacking players, they could make it difficult, keep running. We created good moments, not clear-cut chances, but still enough that we could've scored. Unfortunately we didn't. It's quite cliche but it's half-time [in the tie] now and I'm looking forward to the game back at Anfield."