"It is what it is" - Virgil van Dijk questions Premier League referee after Liverpool draw with Fulham

Liverpool captain Virgil Van Dijk has alleged that referee Tony Harrington looked nervous during their recent Premier League outing against Fulham. The match official was at the center stage as the Reds managed to salvage a point against the Cottagers on Saturday, December 14.

Arne Slot's men came from behind twice to avoid defeat against Fulham at Anfield in a game where the Reds once again showed character after playing with 10 men for the majority of the encounter.

Match official Harrington showed a straight red card to Liverpool's left-back Andy Robertson in the 17th minute, following a reckless last-man tackle on Fulham's Harry Wilson.

Meanwhile, the home team was a bit aggrieved, as referee Harrington only issued yellow cards to Andreas Pereira and Issa Diop after rough challenges during the game.

Speaking after the encounter, Liverpool captain Van Dijk alleged that he felt the refree was a bit nervous during his officiating of the heated encounter. While speaking to SkySports (via Metro), he said:

"I had conversations with the other players of Fulham, and we all felt like he [the referee] was a little bit nervous. I don’t know. We felt it a little bit [that the referee was nervous], but together with Robertson we couldn’t properly communicate with him, I felt.

"It is what it is. We can’t put the blame on the referee but it’s also part of the game."

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Liverpool manager reacts to Andy Robertson's red card

Arne Slot has admitted that the decision to send off left-back Robertson during their 2-2 draw at home to Fulham was correct. He, however, did reveal that the 30-year-old was probably affected by the harsh challenge he received a few minutes before the incident.

The Scotland international was brought down in the opening stages of the encounter by Fulham's Issa Diop, and although he managed to carry on, Robertson was then sent off a few minutes later for a challenge on Wilson.

Slot revealed that the tackle on Roberton prior to his sending off actually had an impact on his performance. He was, however, full of praise for the left-back and his team as they showed character to salvage a point with 10 men. He said (via Independent):

"The character the team showed, that is what Robbo showed. If you get a kick like this, two studs on a knee, that can hurt for a few minutes. If you keep running and it gets better and better, that is what we were hoping for.

"I only had one defender on the bench, who is not a left full-back, so you are hoping he was managing to come through it and did quite well. But the moment I noticed he wasn’t completely himself was the one time they put the ball in behind and he started running and was just able to head back to Ali (Alisson Becker).

“I felt ‘Hmm, OK, let’s see how this continues’ and I think it was quite soon afterwards he conceded the red card."

The 2-2 draw at home to Fulham sees Liverpool remain at the top of the league table with 36 points after 15 games, with a game in hand. However, the result now means that Liverpool are without a win in their last two league games.