Virgil van Dijk was not in Liverpool’s squad to face Crystal Palace, but was at Anfield to watch his team-mates go out of the Carabao Cup.
Virgil van Dijk may not have been in Liverpool’s matchday squad for their defeat to Crystal Palace, but that didn’t stop him from consoling Amara Naro. The Reds youngster was sent off in the second half as his team lost 3-0.
Ismaila Sarr’s brace gave Oliver Glasner’s side complete control at half-time, and Yeremy Pino’s first goal ensured their place in the quarter-finals. But for Liverpool, manager Arne Slott’s decision to make 10 changes and leave star players out of the squad backfired.
Naro came on for Alexis Mac Allister at the end of the game, with the Reds already winning 2-0 at Anfield. But the centre-back was sent off just 12 minutes after coming off the bench for bringing down Palace’s Justin Deveney, when he appeared to have missed the front of goal.
Wednesday night’s red card means the young defender has been sent off twice in just 16 minutes of professional football for Liverpool. The player, who joined West Ham in August 2023 after coming through the youth ranks, made his debut in the Champions League against PSV in January, but was sent off in the fourth minute.
However, after receiving a red card against the Eagles, the youngster was consoled by Van Dijk on his way down the tunnel. After the match, Arne Slott revealed: “I didn’t need to say that much, because the other thing that I liked, and that’s not the most important thing, was that Ibu (Konate) and Virgil (van Dijk) went inside right away to talk to him.”
read more: Arne Slott says he should have emulated Mikel Arteta after ‘too many signings for Liverpool’read more: Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner slams Liverpool’s ‘rude’ comments
“So it’s a moment like this, where a young player gets sent off for the second time, probably the first time since the game against PSV (Eindhoven). I’m not 100% sure, but I think he was. They feel that moment is how difficult it is for him to go in and support him.”
“So I didn’t have to take care of him. These two were already taking care of him.”
Former Liverpool defender Stephen Warnock told BBC Radio 5 Live: “What a horrible feeling for this young man, Amara Naro. There’s nothing worse than knowing you’ve been sent off on your debut.”
“Then there’s the next game. If you make a mistake you’ll be sent off again. I just saw Virgil van Dijk walking down the tunnel. You have to try and pick up the lad.”
Coach Slott added of his team’s performance: “It always hurts to lose a soccer game, especially when it leads to elimination in the tournament. But it’s the same choice I made tonight in a round like this last season.”
“There are probably many reasons why we lost six out of seven, but none of them are enough to accept so many losses. I can think of arguments and reasons, but none of them are enough to reach that standard, because six defeats out of seven is always too big for Liverpool.
“If you look at the performance against Brentford as an example, two days after we played (Eintracht) Frankfurt away, we had a team there that was probably struggling to play three games in seven days.
“Again, it’s not an excuse to lose football matches, but it’s not a complete surprise to me, seeing how some players have struggled during pre-season and players who have come from different leagues. And this is a new challenge for them to play three games in seven days at Premier League and Champions League level.”
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