Gini Wijnaldum has slammed Jordan Pickford’s ‘stupid’ challenge on Virgl van Dijk.
Van Dijk suffered an ACL injury in the collision with the goalkeeper during Liverpool’s 2-2 draw with Everton in last weekend’s Merseyside derby.
The Dutch international is now set to miss most of the campaign but the Football Association confirmed Pickford will not face any disciplinary action.
However Wijnaldum took aim at the England no.1 and claimed the tackle was part of a recurring theme from Blues players in clashes between the sides.
He said: “First of all, we are all still devastated.
“I think it’s different than normal. The way it happened was really hard for us and I think everyone still has a really bad feeling about it.
“When we were speaking with the lads after Saturday, I think none of the players slept after what happened with Virgil, because of the way it happened.
“It’s a really hard one to take for me, and also for the team.
“Of course we were upset. The way Pickford went in on the challenge, in my opinion, was completely stupid.
“I believe that he didn’t want to injure Virgil the way he did, but the way he took the tackle was that he didn’t care about what happened after the tackle.
“I think we had it a lot in games against Everton. In my opinion, they take it way too far in the games we play against them.
“We know it’s a derby and everyone wants to win but sometimes you go over the top. It was too much.
“It was not only his tackle. If you talk about the tackle of Richarlison on Thiago, it was also a nasty one.
“That’s what bothers me the most and I think most of the other players.
“Accidents can always happen in football. You can be unlucky with a tackle and injure someone but the way they were doing it was completely unacceptable.
“It makes it harder that they don’t get punished. In this case Pickford after seeing the videos.”