Another game against Manchester City, another penalty. For the third time this season, Liverpool were guilty of gifting Pep Guardiola’s side the chance to score from the spot.

And it followed the trend of not only the afternoon, but also the campaign as a whole.

By upending Nico O’Reilly inside the box, it was the fourth penalty Virgil van Dijk had conceded in 46 appearances this term. For context, that matched the number the centre-back had given away in his first seven-and-a-half seasons with the Reds over 318 games.

As even the imperious Van Dijk has discovered in recent months, Father Time remains undefeated and, at 35, the sharpness of both mind and body isn’t quite as it was, shown when guilty of wrongly attempting to play offside for City’s third.

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It hasn’t helped that the skipper has had to carry Liverpool both on and off the field for so long this...