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Virgil van Dijk has acknowledged he has plenty to say regarding the guilty verdict handed down to Manchester City, but cautioned fans that they will need to be patient before hearing his full thoughts.
In City's first match since being formally found guilty of widespread financial misconduct between 2009 and 2018, Enzo Maresca's side stormed to a 3–0 victory over Van Dijk's Liverpool at Anfield, where the scenes in the stands proved just as captivating as the action on the field.
The occasion created a tense atmosphere, and Van Dijk made clear he would not be drawn into commenting while the world awaits the outcome of City's appeal.
"The only thing I can say, because it's ongoing, is that I have really enjoyed the rivalry," Van Dijk said following the match.
"But that is on the pitch, what has happened off the pitch is a totally different story. Because it's still ongoing, it's not a good idea for me to comment on this. When it's properly settled I will definitely share my comments on it but, for now, let's wait and see."
Van Dijk Questions Refereeing in Frustrating Defeat
The 3–0 scoreline feels harsh on Liverpool, who for the opening hour matched their opponents in what was a closely contested affair. A second yellow card for Ryan Gravenberch, who had been one of Liverpool's standout performers up to that point, undeniably shifted the momentum of the game.
"I think the first half was good on our side, we showed a lot of intensity," Van Dijk reflected. "We could have done maybe better on some occasions where we got on the break with them. I don't think there were massive chances, to be fair, but I think we showed that we wanted to win. We had a lot of intensity; that was the bare minimum.
"Second half, we tried to do the same. Unfortunately, the red card obviously changed a big part of the game, especially when you concede that quickly afterwards as well."
The circumstances surrounding Gravenberch's sending off frustrated Van Dijk, as did what he perceived to be an inconsistency in the referee's decision-making.
"I think it was interesting there was also a couple of occasions where players were asking for different yellow cards—we had one in the first minute that was cautioned by it, Ronald Araújo," Van Dijk argued. "Others weren't cautioned.
"The matter of fact is we end up with 10 men and then concede pretty quickly after that. Then it becomes a very difficult game against them again."
Liverpool will have the opportunity to bounce back on Wednesday when they travel to Austrian outfit LASK in the Champions League, before a challenging away fixture against Brentford on Saturday.