On Monday night, Virgil van Dijk missed out on the Ballon d’O by the narrowest of margins.

Lionel Messi claimed victory by just eight points leaving the Dutchman having to accept second place for his incredible 2019.

The Dutchman didn’t have time to be too disappointed, though.

He had to fly back from Paris and prepare for Liverpool’s huge Merseyside derby on Wednesday.

Jurgen Klopp’s side entered the midweek fixtures eight points clear at the top of the table and they ensured they kept that lead after thrashing Everton 5-2.

But in 24 competitive fixtures this season, the Reds have kept just three clean sheets - against Burnley, MK Dons and Sheffield United.

And they’ve failed to shut out their opponents since that match at Bramall Lane back on September 28.

Despite scoring five times against Everton on Wednesday, Liverpool still suffered some nervy moments.

One particular moment occurred at 4-2 when Moise Kean raced through on goal with just five minutes remaining.

However, the former Juve man dragged his effort wide when one-on-one with Adrian.

And replays showed that Van Dijk deserves credit for putting him off.

It shows the Liverpool man producing a Sunday League tactic by shouting at the Everton striker just when he was about to shoot in an attempt to distract him.

Brilliant.

It worked an absolute trick as Kean put the ball wide.

If he had scored, it would have set up an extremely nervy finish yet again for Liverpool. Instead, Kean missed and minutes later, Georginio Wijnaldum sealed the 5-2 win.

Unsportsmanlike conduct? Possibly. But Van Dijk did everything he possibly could to make sure Kean didn’t score.