Virgil van Dijk had his left ankle and entire reputation shattered by Ivan Perisic's run

Virgil van Dijk was left utterly embarrassed by Ivan Perisic, as he was left going the other way to his ankle in the build up to Harry Kane's goal.

Liverpool faced Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon, looking to add more pain to the north London club.

Ryan Mason was taking charge of just his second game, in his second spell, having drawn with Manchester United from two goals down in midweek.

However, it was the demons of the previous week's battering at the hands of Newcastle United that looked to be coming back to haunt them again.

Jurgen Klopp's side were 1-0 up after just three minutes, with Trent Alexander-Arnold's cross finding Curtis Jones in an park worth of acres of space.

It was 2-0 just two minutes later, as Luis Diaz marked his first start since September with a lovely finish from Cody Gakpo's cross.

And once against Spurs' fans were leaving early on the 15 minute mark, as Mohamed Salah put recent penalty troubles behind him by scoring from the spot, after Critistian Romero's foul that was reminiscent of bad Sunday League defending.

However, the visiting side actually got back into the game late in the half, with Kane getting on the end of Perisic's cross, after the Croatian had destroyed Van Dijk's left ankle, and his reputation.

Perisic sent Van Dijk for a hot dog 👀😵‍💫 pic.twitter.com/0cKiMdJYyr

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) April 30, 2023

"Liverpool fans had the audacity to come for Lisandro Martinez when they have Van Dijk," laughed one Manchester United supporter.

"Van Dijk looks like me attempting the limbo after one too many," said a second rival fan.

Looking for a silver lining for the black clouds, a Spurs fan added, "We are losing 3-1 but just remember Ivan Prehistoric sat Virgil Van Dijk on his ass for an assist."

"Looks like someone snipped Van Dijk," joked another.

A fifth fan replied, "Van Dijk got sent back to Groningen by a 42 year old pensioner Perisic," perhaps unfairly insulting the wing-back at the same time.

"Is this the Van Dijk they said was the greatest premier league centre back of all time?", questioned another, who remembered Jamie Carragher's recent comments.

PERISIC DROPPED VIRGIL VAN DIJK 😳 pic.twitter.com/m9Wr24Y9m2

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) April 30, 2023

After taking a battering in the first part of the half, Mason's team, on their third manager in just over a month, looked like they could have made a huge comeback.

Kane's goal was followed by a couple more chances, with Son Heung-min hitting the post with one shot, although he was soon flagged offside.

The swing in momentum was certainly helped by Van Dijk, who is at the end of season that has been poor by his particularly high previous standards.