Report: Pickford to avoid punishment over Van Dijk tackle

Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford will not face retrospective action for his strong challenge on Virgil van Dijk during Saturday's Merseyside derby, according to BBC Sport's Simon Stone.

The Football Association determined that the tackle, which resulted in a serious knee injury for the Liverpool defender, was seen by referee Michael Oliver and reviewed by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR). The FA is therefore unable to re-referee the incident, per its own guidelines.

The controversial moment occurred when Fabinho lifted the ball to the far post to find Van Dijk. The Dutch center-back was about to control the ball when Pickford scythed him down with a scissor-like action, forcing his immediate substitution. Rather than awarding Liverpool a penalty and punishing Pickford, a free-kick was given to Everton, as the VAR ruled that Van Dijk tried to collect the ball in an offside position.

"It was a clear penalty I saw and then we saw the flag went up. I thought they would still look at the foul but that didn't happen," Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said after the match. "I don't want to say Jordan Pickford wanted to do it, but it is not a challenge how a goalie can do in the box."

Van Dijk's withdrawal resulted in the introduction of Joe Gomez off the bench. Gomez played the rest of the match in central defense with Joel Matip, although the pair have never started a match together for Liverpool. Midfielder Fabinho has also featured in that position and would likely be called upon before the inexperienced trio of Nathaniel Phillips, Rhys Williams, and Sepp van den Berg during Van Dijk's absence.

Van Dijk, 29, won the PFA Player of the Year award in 2018-19 after becoming the only footballer that season to play more than 1,000 minutes in Europe's top five leagues without being dribbled past once. No one surpasses his 43 clean sheets since he joined Liverpool in January 2018.