OFF NIGHT A LESSON FOR NUNEZ
VIRGIL VAN DIJK has told Darwin Nunez he will need to learn how to deal with defenders winding him up – and has to control himself.
The Liverpool striker was sent off after headbutting Crystal Palace defender Joachim Andersen during the 1-1 draw at Anfield on Monday night.
Andersen had continually nibbled away at the £85m signing during the Anfield clash and Nunez eventually snapped in the 57th minute.
“Obviously he was disappointed and also probably with himself,” said Liverpool defender Van
Dijk (inset).
“But it’s a learning curve and obviously we will always back him.
“He’s got the backing from us and he knows it should not happen again and hopefully it will be that way.
“He has to control himself, definitely.
“I think that’s a separate thing, he has to manage himself.
“He has to be knowing that these things can happen, especially in the Premier League.”
Nunez now faces a three-match ban after becoming the first player under Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool to be sent off for violent conduct.
It adds to the Reds’ woes as they are already suffering an injury crisis with Ibrahima Konate, Joel Matip, Thiago, Curtis Jones, Alex OxladeChamberlain, Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino all struggling.
They now have just two points from their opening two games with back-toback draws to kick off the season.
That leaves them trailing Premier League title rivals Manchester City by four points already.
Van Djik said: “Obviously we want to perform well but it’s funny because we played the Community Shield and won and everyone was saying loads of other things and now we have drawn twice and people will write us off. “But that’s the outside world and we just have to concentrate on what we can influence – and that’s our performance.
“This game was, especially with 10 men, a great performance. We’ve played two games so far this season and there’s still a long way to go so anything can happen.
“That’s been shown over the last years so we’ll focus on ourselves.
“We don’t read what the others from the outside say about us because nobody knows what’s really going on.”