(Video) Virgil van Dijk left one Spurs player red-faced with ridiculous piece of trickery | OneFootball

Jamie Carragher said after Liverpool’s 4-0 win over Tottenham on Thursday night that Virgil van Dijk makes elite football look ‘too easy’ at times, and that was encapsulated in one audacious moment during the second half at Anfield.

The Reds captain rounded off the scoring for his team as they booked their place in a third Carabao Cup final in four years, with Newcastle now standing in the way of Arne Slot winning the first trophy on offer to him as LFC head coach.

On the same night that the Dutchman made his 302nd appearance for Liverpool, Mathys Tel came off the bench for his first for Spurs since joining them on loan from Bayern Munich earlier this week, and the French youngster was given an unceremonious introduction to English football.

Van Dijk takes out Tel with audacious backheel

At one point during the second half, a deft through ball was played in the direction of the 19-year-old, who raced to try and get on the end of it.

Unfortunately for him, Van Dijk was literally one step ahead of him all the way, and when taking possession while facing towards the Main Stand, the Liverpool defender casually backheeled the ball behind him, leaving Tel rooted to the spot as the play continued away from him.

Image via @AudsleyLFC on X

Van Dijk makes the extraordinary look ordinary

Had the 33-year-old misread that passage of play, or messed up in possession, he could’ve been left red-faced and gifted Spurs an opportunity to score. However, it never seemed in doubt that he’d come away from the situation with an already formidable reputation enhanced even further.

Instead, it was the unfortunate Tottenham debutant who looked like the proverbial rabbit in the headlights after such audacious trickery from the Reds’ number 4, who carried out the backheel as though it was just a basic everyday pass to a teammate.

Michael Dawson spoke last night of the ‘calm’ that Van Dijk constantly exudes on the pitch, and this piece of skill is a perfect example of what the Sky Sports pundit means.

The Dutchman will be sorely missed after he leaves Liverpool – let’s hope that parting of the ways doesn’t occur for some time yet, with his contract creeping alarmingly towards that 30 June expiry date.

You can view Van Dijk’s backheel below, with the original clip from @AudsleyLFC shared via Empire of the Kop on X: