Referee admits Pickford should have been sent off for Van Dijk tackle

Premier League official Michael Oliver admits he should've sent off Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford for his violent tackle on Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk in the Merseyside derby earlier this campaign.

The Dutch defender suffered a season-ending knee injury during the 2-2 draw in October, while Pickford avoided a red card after a VAR review because Van Dijk was offside just before the tackle.

But Oliver, who was the match official that day at Goodison Park, said he got the decision wrong.

"The thought initially was, 'It can't be a penalty because it's offside, so we need to check the offside first,'" Oliver told The Daily Mail, according to ESPN FC.

"I think I said to the VAR, 'If it's not offside, I'm going to give a penalty.' I have watched it back so many times. I genuinely don't think Pickford (did) anything apart from (trying) to spread himself, but he did it the wrong way, as the injury has shown.

"We have all, myself included, not thought about the challenge as much as (we) should have done. We could still have given offside and sent Pickford off."

Oliver continued: "What I was surprised about looking at it afterward was that nothing was expected on-field in terms of a red card. None of the players were asking for that.

"We got sucked too much into going step-by-step as opposed to thinking of the bigger process, which was considering the challenge as well and not just the fact it can't be a penalty.

"We should have restarted with the offside, as we did, but with a different punishment for Jordan Pickford."

While VAR has become a contentious point for many since its introduction last season, Oliver says he's a fan of the new technology.

"I know VAR has become an obsession," Oliver added. "But I am for it. There is all the clamor about it changing the game.

"But if you scrapped it tomorrow (at) lunchtime, all you would hear all weekend would be people shouting, 'That would be a (penalty) with VAR.' As soon as you moved it away, people would want it back."