'Total piece of sh*t!' - Fans left fuming after Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk escapes red card for elbow on Richarlison in Carabao Cup clash with Tottenham

In the third minute of this Carabao Cup semi-final second leg at Anfield on Thursday, Reds captain Van Dijk made contact with Richarlison's neck - with the Brazilian dramatically falling to the floor. The 33-year-old received no card for his actions - with some supporters saying Liverpool's players are "wrapped in cotton wool" by the officials.

@MKTIRB posted: "Van Dijk knows exactly what he’s doing, it happens far too often for this to be an accident. By my count that’s his 4th this season. Total piece of shit."

@CraigBComedy wrote on X: "You’re a fool if you think they will ever review a challenge from Virgil Van Dijk and send him off. Liverpool players are wrapped in cotton wool by the PGMOL ever since that Diaz offside.. #LIVTOT."

@walla81 put: "3rd time this season Van Dijk has ‘accidentally’ elbowed or smashed someone in the face."

@TI_Voice tweeted: "How did Virgil Van Dijk get away with that."

@lynnehall commented: "Said that as soon as it happened! Blatant elbow by Van Dijk & not even a yellow! Any @ManUtd player doing that is off! And they pretend there’s no bias. 🙄."

@JM1991_ added: "And there it is, inside a hundred seconds. Anyone other than van Dijk playing for any other club in the country gets a red there. Spurs should just walk off the pitch now, the officials aren’t going to allow them to get through."

Tottenham may feel particularly aggrieved by that decision as at the time of writing, Liverpool are 2-1 up on aggregate and are on course to reach the Carabao Cup final. It could have been very different if Van Dijk had been dismissed early on in the contest.

The winner of this cup contest will face Newcastle United in the final at Wembley after they beat Arsenal 4-0 on aggregate.