Some people will not forget their first Merseyside derby. The chances are that, for very different reasons, Virgil van Dijk and Arne Slot are among them. Van Dijk’s injury-time winner against Atletico Madrid this week offered a reminder of his debut and another headed decider, against Everton seven years ago. He was an immediate hit.
For Slot, Diego Simeone’s late dismissal at Anfield on Wednesday may have sparked memories of the only time he lost his head: at Goodison Park in February, after James Tarkowski’s 98th-minute equaliser, when Abdoulaye Doucoure, Curtis Jones, Slot and his assistant Sipke Hulshoff all saw red.
