Liverpool star blasted online after horror show against Crystal Palace

Liverpool were looking for a swift response against Crystal Palace following on from the shambolic 3-0 defeat to Atalanta on Thursday.

Jurgen Klopp's side suffered a shock loss in the Europa League quarter-final first leg, with former West Ham striker Gianluca Scamacca.

Changes were made for the visit of Palace on Sunday, including the return of first-choice goalkeeper Alisson Becker.

But the Reds suffered a hangover and found themselves 1-0 down when Eberechi Eze found space inside the area.

Jean-Philippe Mateta nearly made it 2-0 shortly after when Virgil van Dijk did his best Steven Gerrard impression - his slip allowing the striker to run through one-on-one

He dinked the ball past Alisson only for Andy Robertson to save the Liverpool skipper with a superb goal-line clearance.

Van Dijk's positioning wasn't all that great for Eze's opener and the Dutchman received a good pasting online for his first-half display.

One wrote: "Van Dijk bottling it in a title race. Imagine my shock.

A second said: "Virgil Van Dijk is by far the worst player to ever receive GOAT shouts in their position. So many hideous moments like that are overlooked by Liverpool fans and the media."

Another fan added: "Just look at Van Dijk and Konate’s positioning for the Crystal Palace goal, Liverpool fans really tried to tell us these are the best defenders in the world."

A fourth stated: "People really compared this Van Dijk to the likes of Terry and Vidic."

A fifth joked: "Van Dijk can’t aura defend anymore lol."

Liverpool have found themselves 1-0 down on a staggering 21 occasions this season but displayed a strong knaco of coming back.

But if they are not able to do so in the second half then they will have gone three games in a row without victory.

Having been top of the league, they could find themselves in third by the time the weekend's action is complete.