Virgil van Dijk has warned Manchester City players to expect more hostile receptions from opposing supporters in their Premier League games this season.
City faced an onslaught from Liverpool fans during Sunday’s game at Anfield and were repeatedly branded cheats. It was their first game since an independent commission found them guilty of almost all the charges brought against them over alleged breaches between 2009 and 2018.
Van Dijk expects the reaction to continue at other stadiums this season.
“Everyone can share their feelings and I don’t think Anfield will be the only place where it will be the case because fans will have their feelings,” Van Dijk said. “But for players I don’t think it is a good idea at this moment in time [to share their feelings].”
City’s appeal hearing is due to be completed before Christmas, with a verdict expected within 30 days of its conclusion. Van Dijk said he could share his thoughts when the process was over.
“It’s still a little bit ongoing so I don’t think it’s smart for me to comment on it right now,” he said. “But when the [appeal] verdict comes out I will definitely have my opinion and I will probably share it.”
The Liverpool defender also rejected the suggestion that the findings had changed his view of the title battles between the clubs under Jürgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola. City edged Liverpool to the 2013-14 Premier League title by two points, finishing on 86 points to Liverpool’s 84, while the teams also contested several other close races.
“No, because I really enjoyed our rivalry and it was a great rivalry on the pitch,” Van Dijk said. “What happened off the pitch is for others to find a conclusion on and then let’s see.”
City’s financial case was not the only source of frustration for the Liverpool captain on Sunday. He questioned the circumstances surrounding Ryan Gravenberch’s dismissal in the second half, after the midfielder received a second yellow card for fouling the City substitute Jeremy Doku.
Van Dijk was particularly unhappy with Gravenberch’s first booking, awarded for a foul on Elliot Anderson. He said he was also unhappy with how the referee’s apparent inconsistency in handling the situation of players appealing for a booking.
Liverpool’s Ronald Araujo had been cautioned early in the match for gesturing for a yellow card against Marc Guehi. However, Erling Haaland later appeared to signal that Gravenberch’s foul on Doku warranted a booking, and Rben Dias and Guehi approached referee Chris Kavanagh, but neither City player was cautioned.
“Was the red card the right decision? That’s for others [to decide],” Van Dijk said. “I don’t even know how the first yellow card [for Gravenberch] was. But after the first minute when Araujo got a yellow card for asking for a yellow card, there were so many other players from the other team asking for a red card.”
He added that Liverpool could not use the dismissal to explain the defeat. The hosts conceded soon after going down to 10 men, making their task considerably harder.
Liverpool had shown fight and intensity before the sending-off, Van Dijk said, but the result remained a painful one for the home side.
“We play for Liverpool so we have the expectation we have to win every game,” he said. “There was a lot of good things in the first half but the fact is we lost it 3-0 and that hurts.”
