Virgil cast as 'serial offender'

VIRGIL van Dijk has spent much of the season fielding questions about his Liverpool future.

- By IAN DOYLE Chief LFC Writer [e-mail] @lanDoyleSport

But with progress now being made over a new contract, the spotlight is being shone elsewhere on the centre-back.

And Arne Slot will no doubt be surprised to learn his team is being captained by a "serial offender" who has escaped multiple red cards in the last two seasons and should now be facing a ban.

Well, that's if former Premier League referee Keith Hackett is to be believed, having been invited by one publication to dissect a number of incidents involving Van Dijk.

Readers would be advised not to hold their breath waiting for every other leading defender to be given similar forensic treatment.

But such is Van Dijk's reputation of being widely regarded, at least by his peers, as the standard-bearer in his position, he will inevitably attract greater attention.

That arrived again on Sunday. Hackett, now 80 and also ex-chief of the Professional Game Match Officials Limited, believes Van Dijk should have conceded a penalty when colliding with Rodrigo Muniz, and then later dismissed when catching Sander Berge with a flailing arm.

In fairness, the penalty was a 50-50 call. But there was nothing in the Berge incident that doesn't happen several times every single game.