Football pundit Gary Lineker has given a succinct appraisal of Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk after their Carabao Cup final triumph over Chelsea.

Liverpool secured a 1-0 victory in extra time, marking a record 10th win of the cup in the club’s history with Van Dijk scoring the deciding goal. During regular play, Van Dijk thought he had scored off an Andy Robertson corner, but the play was cancelled by VAR due to an offside player obstructing a free-kick.

Yet, Van Dijk and team Liverpool broke through with the winning goal that clinched the Carabao Cup final. Shortly after the successful header, Lineker shared his praise for the Liverpool skipper on X, previously known as Twitter.

Only five Liverpool players from their 4-1 win over Chelsea at Anfield less than four weeks ago started at Wembley, while the bench contained six academy graduates aged 21 and under, including 16-year-old midfielder Trey Nyoni.

Jurgen Klopp made full use of his substitutes during the match, with star players like James McConnell, Bobby Clark, Jayden

Nkunku wildcard, Thiago Silva in - Three ways Chelsea can line up in Carabao Cup Liverpool final
Nkunku wildcard, Thiago Silva in – Three ways Chelsea can line up in Carabao Cup Liv to contend with a lengthy injury list. Big names like Mohamed Salah, Darwin Nunez, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Diogo Jota, Dominik Szoboszlai, Curtis Jones, Alisson Becker, Joel Matip, Thiago Alcantara, Stefan Bajcetic and Ben Doak were all sidelined due to injuries.

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Chelsea flag prior the UEFA Champions League Quarter Final Leg One match between Chelsea FC and Real Madrid at Stamford Bridge. (Photo by Jose Breton/Pics Action/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

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