Virgil van Dijk issues solemn warning to Darwin Nunez after Crystal Palace header

Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk has warned Darwin Nunez that the incident in which he was sent off against Crystal Palace cannot be repeated. Nunez, who was signed this summer for a fee of up to £85million, was dismissed for headbutting Palace defender Joachim Andersen.

Nunez and Andersen were embroiled in a tense battle throughout the 1-1 draw at Anfield. However, tensions boiled over when the former Benfica man just before the hour mark.

The 23-year-old was fired for violent conduct and is now missing Liverpool's next three Premier League games. The Reds have very few fit senior strikers, and Van Dijk has warned Nunez he must learn from the incident.

"He has our support and he knows it shouldn't happen again and I hope it will," the Dutchman told reporters after the game.

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"He has to control himself, definitely. I think that's a separate thing. He has to manage himself, he has to know that these things can happen, especially in the Premier League. It will be a learning curve for him and I hope it won't happen again."

Nunez has also come under fire from head coach Jurgen Klopp. The German acknowledged that Nunez gave his teammates an uphill battle, with the incident occurring when Liverpool followed Wilfried Zaha's opener.

Asked by Sky Sports if Nunez had let his colleagues down, Klopp replied: "Listen, he knows that himself. I'm going to talk to him. It makes no sense for me to talk about it in public, you see it.

"That's not the reaction you want to see. Premier League centre-halves do this - they want to have it, it's a handful itself but it's a reaction.

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"There is no time, there is no pre-season. We don't know how long it will be suspended. We will use it (suspension) for physical work - not like punishment - but to make it even stronger and that's what we're going to try."

Ten-man Liverpool fought back to draw thanks to Luis Diaz's impressive effort. But the Anfield side's first two Premier League games have now ended in stalemates.

Van Dijk concluded: "We've played two games so far this season and there's still a long way to go for anything to happen...