Virgil van Dijk was clearly unhappy after being barged to the ground by Emmanuel Emegha (Sky Sports)
Emmanuel Emegha was involved in a bizarre clash with Virgil van Dijk during Chelsea’s defeat to Liverpool in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night.
The Carabao Cup fourth-round tie went to a penalty shootout at Anfield as it ended 1-1 after 90 minutes with Morgan Rogers’ penalty cancelled out by Cody Gakpo’s spot-kick.
Valentin Barco and Kostas Tsimikas both missed their penalties, meaning that the shootout went to sudden death. Ryan Gravenberch and Emegha both saw their efforts saved before Chelsea centre-back Wesley Fofana blasted his spot-kick high over the bar to put Liverpool through to the Carabao Cup quarter final, where they will play Bournemouth.
Emegha was brought on as a substitute in the 68th minute and just 120 seconds after replacing Danny Welbeck, the Chelsea striker barged into Van Dijk off the ball with such force that he knocked his fellow Netherlands international to the floor.
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‘He just carried on [running], very strange from the substitute, Van Dijk had something to say about that afterwards,’ said former Arsenal striker Alan Smith during Sky Sports’ coverage.
Referee Darren England opted not to punish Emegha for the shove but Van Dijk was clearly unhappy with the 23-year-old as he spoke to the official moments later.
Expert lip-reader, Nicola Hickling, analysed Van Dijk’s conversation with the referee for Metro to determine what Liverpool’s captain said about his clash with Emegha.
Provided by CSB, who review the best Canadian betting sites, Hickling revealed that Van Dijk’s stern message to the referee was: ‘No, no, no. I am done with him and anything to do with football. He better give up.’
Van Dijk was then substituted shortly after his conversation with the referee as he was replaced by Jeremy Jacquet.
Emegha, who played alongside Van Dijk in the Dutch national team on two occasions last year, joined Chelsea in a €25 million (£21m) deal from fellow BlueCo-owned side Strasbourg in the summer.
The 23-year-old, who scored 31 goals in 78 games for Strasbourg, missed the start of the season due to a hamstring injury he suffered in July and his second-half appearance at Anfield marked his official debut for Chelsea.
With Joao Pedro sidelined due to a knee injury, Emegha is now in contention to make his Premier League debut for Chelsea’s game against Manchester United at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
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LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 28: Xabi Alonso manager / head coach of Chelsea during the Carabao Cup Fourth Round match between Liverpool and Chelsea at Anfield on October 28, 2026 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images)
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 28: Xabi Alonso manager / head coach of Chelsea during the Carabao Cup Fourth Round match between Liverpool and Chelsea at Anfield on October 28, 2026 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images)