Fans think Virgil van Dijk showed 'ultimate disrespect' to Richarlison during off the ball incident in Carabao Cup

Fans have joked that Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk showed the ultimate disrespect to a Tottenham star during the Carabao Cup semi-final clash between the two sides.

Spurs went into the second leg at Anfield with a 1-0 advantage after Lucas Bergvall's late goal in the first leg.

They defended stoically during the opening half hour of the second leg, with new loan signing Kevin Danso playing his part on his Spurs debut.

Dominic Szoboszlai briefly thought he had levelled the tie for Arne Slot's side, but the flag was brought up for offside to rule out his goal.

But Cody Gakpo did put Liverpool ahead on 34 minutes with a composed finish into the bottom left corner.

Earlier in proceedings, fans spotted what Van Dijk did after Spurs forward Richarlison won a foul for his side inside their own half.

The Brazilian, who was sat on the turf, briefly looked up at Van Dijk before seeing the Dutchman has offered his hand to help him up.

Richarlison took the opportunity, but Van Dijk pulled his hand away at the last second and ran off in the other direction, leaving the Spurs forward slightly perplexed.

Richarlison's evening would get worse shortly before half-time when he suffered an injury and was replaced by Tel, who made his debut in a Spurs shirt.

Liverpool went 2-0 up in the second half after Darwin Nunez was fouled inside the area by Spurs goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky, with Mo Salah converting the subsequent penalty with aplomb.

The winner of the tie will face Newcastle in the Carabao Cup final, which takes place at Wembley Stadium on March 16.

They defeated Arsenal 2-0 at St James' Park on Wednesday to secure a 4-0 aggregate win, with goals from Jacob Murphy and Anthony Gordon inflicting the damage on the Gunners.