What Virgil van Dijk said after Emmanuel Emegha clash during Liverpool vs Chelsea

Virgil van Dijk was clearly unhappy after being barged to the ground by Emmanuel Emegha (Sky Sports)

Emmanuel Emegha was involved in a bizarre clash with Virgil van Dijk during Chelsea’s defeat to Liverpool in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night.

The Carabao Cup fourth-round tie went to a penalty shootout at Anfield as it ended 1-1 after 90 minutes with Morgan Rogers’ penalty cancelled out by Cody Gakpo’s spot-kick.

Valentin Barco and Kostas Tsimikas both missed their penalties, meaning that the shootout went to sudden death. Ryan Gravenberch and Emegha both saw their efforts saved before Chelsea centre-back Wesley Fofana blasted his spot-kick high over the bar to put Liverpool through to the Carabao Cup quarter final, where they will play Bournemouth.

Emegha was brought on as a substitute in the 68th minute and just 120 seconds after replacing Danny Welbeck, the Chelsea striker barged into Van Dijk off the ball with such force that he knocked his fellow Netherlands international to the floor.

‘He just carried on [running], very strange from the substitute, Van Dijk had something to say about that afterwards,’ said former Arsenal striker Alan Smith during Sky Sports’ coverage.

Referee Darren England opted not to punish Emegha for the shove but Van Dijk was clearly unhappy with the 23-year-old as he spoke to the official moments later.

Virgil van Dijk was NOT HAPPY with Emmanuel Emegha 😒 pic.twitter.com/UEtoJ7n5va— ITV Football (@itvfootball) October 29, 2026

Expert lip-reader, Nicola Hickling, analysed Van Dijk’s conversation with the referee for Metro to determine what Liverpool’s captain said about his clash with Emegha.

Provided by CSB, who review the best Canadian betting sites, Hickling revealed that Van Dijk’s stern message to the referee was: ‘No, no, no. I am done with him and anything to do with football. He better give up.’