Gini Wijnaldum admits a "devastated" Liverpool are struggling to come to terms with Virgil van Dijk's injury as he slammed Everton's Merseyside derby conduct.
The Netherlands international also branded goalkeeper Jordan Pickford's reckless challenge on his Liverpool team-mate as "completely stupid".
Van Dijk needs surgery on an ACL injury after a shocking tackle from Pickford in Saturday's 2-2 draw and the setback is likely to have ended the Reds star's season with the defender left out of the club's 25-man squad for the Premier League term.
The Everton goalkeeper escaped punishment from the Football Association after it was decided that both referee Michael Oliver and VAR David Coote saw the incident that has all but ended Van Dijk's campaign.
Elsewhere in the game, Richarlison was shown a straight red card for another high challenge on Thiago Alcantara, forcing the Reds midfielder to sit out Wednesday night's visit to Ajax in the Champions League.
The usually mild-mannered Wijnaldum didn't hold back as he criticised Everton for some of their challenges in Saturday's bruising Merseyside derby.
“Of course we are upset," Wijnaldum told reporters ahead of Wednesday night's game in Amsterdam.
"The way Pickford went into the challenge was completely, in my opinion, stupid.
“I believe that he didn’t want to injure Virgil the way he injured him, but the way he took the tackle, he didn’t care about what happened after the tackle.
Listen to Jurgen Klopp and Gini Wijnladum's press conferences on the Blood Red channel HERE
“I think we had it a lot with the 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 the derby but they took it a little bit over the top.
“The tackle from Richarlison on Thiago was also a nasty tackle. The way they were doing it was completely unacceptable.
"It makes it harder that they will not be punished."
After seeing a specialist on Sunday, it was confirmed that surgery would be needed for £75million Van Dijk and Wijnaldum admitted it was a tough situation for the Liverpool squad to stomach.
He added: "We’re still devastated. This was different than normal. The way it happened is really hard for us.
“Everyone still has a really bad feeling about it. When we were speaking with lads about it Saturday, none of the lads slept because of what happened to Virgil and the way it happened.
“It is a really hard one to take and hard for the team.”
.png?w=600)
