Gary Neville has riled Liverpool fans by suggesting Virgil van Dijk is wary of Arsenal forward Nicolas Pepe.
Unai Emery started the £72million forward at Anfield on Saturday, and he showed his class by dribbling past Van Dijk early on in the contest - becoming the first player to do so in the Premier League since Mikel Merino all the way back in March 2018.
The passage of play prompted Neville, who is commentating on Sky Sports, to claim the Holland international is "nervous" of Pepe.
But his comment sparked a backlash on social media, with angry Reds supporters slamming the suggestion.
"Gary Neville doing anything he can to slander Van Dijk after [Man] United bottled it at home to Crystal Palace," wrote one Liverpool fan.
Another added: "According to Neville Van Dijk is nervous of Pepe. Yeah I'm sure he's been up all night!"
A third tweeted: "Van Dijk is nervous against Pepe. Yeah, all right right then."
And a fourth concluded: "Gary Neville saying Van Dijk doesn't want to go in because he's nervous. He's defending smartly, holding him off until our players get back."
Fortunately for Liverpool, and in particular Van Dijk, the passage of play came to nothing for the Gunners.
Pepe managed to get the ball caught up under his feet and was quickly dispossessed.
