Micky van de Ven apologises to Alexander Isak for challenge that left Liverpool striker needing surgery on leg fracture

Isak, who replaced Conor Bradley at the break at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday evening, opened the scoring for the Reds 10 minutes after his introduction as he fired past Guglielmo Vicario. And Hugo Ekitike doubled Liverpool's advantage midway through the second half.

Richarlison halved the deficit late on to set up a tense finish, but Liverpool held out to secure all the spoils in the capital. However, Isak suffered a serious injury in the process of scoring his second league goal of the season.

As the summer signing got his shot away, Spurs centre-back Van de Ven came across to prevent the shot. While the Dutchman was unable to block Isak's effort, the striker's standing leg became twisted under the former Wolfsburg man, which ultimately forced the Swede off on the hour mark.

And Van de Ven has admitted that he sent a message to Isak after the game, where he apologised to the forward and added that he "wanted to wish him all the best of course."

Speaking on Sky Sports, Van de Ven said: "I sent him a text because I didn’t want to injure him, or to do something to hurt him of course. I just wanted to try to block the shot. I think it was a bit unlucky how his foot landed between my legs. So I sent him a text afterwards and I wanted to wish him all the best of course. I hope to see him on the pitch again very soon. He appreciated the message and texted back."

Van de Ven's effort to deny Isak, however, didn't go down well with Liverpool head coach Arne Slot, who deemed the tackle 'reckless'. The former Newcastle man underwent successful surgery on a fractured ankle earlier this week, and while Slot is confident that Isak will be available again before the end of the campaign, the Reds boss was reeling about the situation.

"It was a reckless challenge," Slot said earlier this week. "I've said a lot about the tackle of Xavi Simons, which for me was completely unintentional. I don't think you will ever get an injury out of a tackle like that. But the tackle of Van de Ven?

"If you make a tackle like that 10 times, 10 times there is a serious chance the player gets a serious injury. It is going to be a long injury for a couple of months. That’s a big, big disappointment for him and, as a result of that, also for us."

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Slot's comments on Van de Ven's 'reckless' tackle drew the ire of Spurs boss Thomas Frank on Tuesday as the Dane leapt to the defence of the Netherlands international, insisting it was the type of challenge that any defender would try to make in their bid to prevent a goal.

"I'm obviously disagreeing," Frank said of Slot's comments. "In many ways, I think we are talking about a defender in Micky van de Ven that will do everything he can to avoid the goal, so it's a transition.

"He's sprinting back in, this ball slides down the side, and he does everything he can to see if he can block that shot, so he's sliding. Unfortunately, Isak's planted his foot straight there, and that makes it look worse than it is. I think that would be a natural reaction for any defender.

"I'll put it this way: if my defender doesn't do that, then I don't think they are true defenders. He's a very fair and competitive player. That's one thing. The other thing, you also know that the two players have sorted it out, so that's a good sign of how they've sorted it out. A good sign."

Under-fire Spurs boss Frank will hope to oversee a return to winning ways when the north London side take on Crystal Palace this weekend. The former Brentford boss is the favourite to be the next Premier League manager to leave his post following a run of one league win in their last eight.

Saturday's defeat to Liverpool combined with results elsewhere means they head into the weekend's action in 14th, albeit nine points clear of the drop zone as pressure mounts on Frank to turn the club's fortunes around.