It was a dismal day all round for Liverpool as they lost 3-1 to Brentford – but it was particularly bad for Virgil van Dijk, who was taken off at half-time by Jurgen Klopp

Virgil van Dijk was taken off at half-time of Liverpool’s 3-1 defeat at Brentford after an “awful” first-half performance.

The Reds were 2-0 behind come the break at the Gtech Community Stadium after Ibrahima Konate put through his own net and Yoane Wissa’s header beat Alisson, while the Bees also had two further goals ruled out for offside.

Jurgen Klopp rung the changes for the restart with Naby Keita, Andy Robertson and Joel Matip coming on for Harvey Elliott, Konstantinos Tsimikas and Van Dijk, who was criticised for producing one of his worst performances for the club.

One Liverpool fan tweeted: “Van Dijk deserved to come off. Been absolutely awful.” A second echoed: “Virgil off and deservedly so, he’s been poor.”

“Big (and correct) call taking Van Dijk off. Been woeful all season if we’re being totally honest about it,” commented a third. And a fourth brutally wrote: “Made up Van Dijk has been dragged. He’s been f***ing pathetic this season.”

“To be honest: Klopp could have made 11 changes, but I feel that the Van Dijk era is over,” sighed one Red, while another argued: “Lol they gonna say Van Dijk is injured but bro even Klopp knows he’s done.”

The Dutch international emerged with taping on his right leg when he returned to watch the second half from the bench, with Klopp saying post-match it was a precautionary change.

He told Sky Sports: “Virg said I’m fine, but he got the treatment of the hamstring and we didn’t want to risk it. Yes, the other two we wanted to have fresh legs, different skill sets, if you want, we needed.”

Although Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain got one back within five minutes, Liverpool couldn’t draw level with Bryan Mbeumo putting the game to bed with six minutes to go.

SOURCE: dailystar.co.uk