Virgil van Dijk crowned Liverpool’s day by challenging Lisandro Martinez to a fight
Liverpool maintained their perfect start to the season with a thumping 3-0 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford – with Virgil van Dijk capping their success by offering to fight one of the United defenders.
Having won their first two games under Arne Slot, the Reds had no problems sweeping their fierce rivals aside with two goals from Luis Diaz and a Mohamed Salah strike.
But it was the Liverpool captain who provided the moment that will be memed and used by the Anfield faithful to taunt United fans across offices and social media in the coming weeks.
It all occurred when Lisandro Martinez steamed into Dominik Szobolszlai with all the restraint of an escapee horse.
As Szoboszlai writhed on the ground in pain, Van Dijk was clearly unimpressed with Martinez’s needless swipe of the midfielder and took it upon himself to make clear to his Argentinian opponent exactly what he thought of the tackle.
Sprinting out from his position, Van Dijk appeared to shout: “Do that against me!” in an improvised homage to the early hours of a Saturday morning outside of a British pub.
Martinez stepped forward and looked willing to take Van Dijk up on his offer of a knuckles-drawn showdown before referee Anthony Taylor calmed the situation.
Van Dijk to Lisandro Martínez after the foul on Szoboszlai: “Come and do this to me”
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Van Dijk is one of three Liverpool superstars – alongside Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold – who are out of contract in June 2025, but the Dutchman remains relaxed about his future at Anfield.
“I’m very calm. The thing is, you know, I want to play the best season I can again,” Van Dijk told Sky Sports last week.
“I want to be important and stay important for the club. Whatever happens next year I will see, you know, anything happen for a reason. That’s how I see it.
“For now, there’s been no changes in my situation, but I’m very calm about it, and there’s no reason for me to start thinking for something else, because I have a whole season to play for still, and hopefully it will be a successful one.’
Van Dijk was a key figure in the Jurgen Klopp era at Liverpool and took over as captain at the start of last season.
He was named in the PFA Premier League Team of the Year for a fourth time, reflecting his ongoing importance to Liverpool and his standing within the game.
The 33-year-old reiterated his pride at being Liverpool captain and labelled Anfield as ‘home’.
“I’m proud, and it’s home, and it’s a special place, and what I said as well before whatever happens in the future,” Van Dijk said. “You know, Anfield is a special place to my heart, and very successful as well.
“Obviously, it’s never guaranteed, like we all seen in the past. I want to win and in every competition that we are competing in, I want to go as far as possible and win it.
“Obviously, we know how difficult that is. But playing for a club like Liverpool, one of the best, if not the best football club in the world, you have these expectations.
“You see the fans, you see the fan base around the world. You know, it’s amazing to be, to be wearing a shirt, and for me personally, being the captain of the club as well.
“I’m really looking forward to it [the season]. I’m really enjoying it so far. But there is so much to improve for the team, for myself, let’s see what it brings.’
Liverpool have enjoyed a perfect start to the season under new boss Slot, with the Reds winning their opening three matches without conceding a goal.
With Van Dijk back to his peerless best, Liverpool look well set to challenge for honours once again and Van Dijk may need to move Martinez’s withered ego from the mantelpiece to make space for more medals.
By Michael Lee