Pundit slams Virgil van Dijk for what he did in 76th minute of Liverpool win today

Virgil van Dijk came under fire from Chris Sutton as Liverpool defeated Burnley 3-1 in the Premier League tonight.

The 50-year-old made the comments when speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live.

Sutton’s remarks regarding Van Dijk

The Nottingham man, however, saw the Netherlands international’s chance in the 76th minute as something far different, calling his effort a “tame” effort at goal.

“Van Dijk should score,” Sutton stated. There’s an incredible giant there. This header is subdued.

Luckily for the Dutch player, Darwin Nunez scored with a header of his own three minutes later to put Liverpool ahead 3-1 and allow Jürgen Klopp to ease off a little bit in the last ten minutes.

Prior to the Uruguayan international’s score, Liverpool led 2-1 thanks to goals from Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz.

It’s interesting to note that by assisting Jota in scoring, Trent Alexander-Arnold made a small amount of history.

With 58 assists, the England international has officially surpassed Andy Robertson, who still has 57, to become the most creative defender in the Premier League era.

How Van Dijk Performed in Liverpool’s 3-1 victory over Burnley

For the moment putting his header behind him, the 32-year-old was playing brilliantly at Anfield earlier today.

According to WhoScored, Van Dijk was an enormous presence at the defence, winning four aerial duels to contain Burnley’s forwards.

The Liverpool No.4 also completed 91.8% of his passes – the best total of any player to last the entire 90 minutes.

Van Dijk attempted 98 passes, of which eight were long-range deliveries. Of those, six were successful in breaking Burnley’s press and launching an assault for Liverpool.

Of course, the Dutchman should have done a bit better with his, in Sutton’s words, “tame” header on James Trafford’s goal, but he won’t be crying over it too much tonight as Liverpool takes the lead back in the Premier League.