Even the freezing cold Virgil van Dijk couldn’t resist a little laugh at Troy Deeney’s joke before Liverpool’s defeat at Watford on Saturday.
The skipper of the Hornets made no secret of his admiration for the Dutchman, once praising his “good hair” and his “beautiful smell”.
It’s not lost for Deeney that standing next to Ball D’Or candidate Van Dijk is probably a more memorable experience than hanging out with him.
And being the unfiltered character that he is, Deeney was quick to point out the error of his mascot.
“If you had paid a little more money, you could have stood next to him,” Deeney told the young boy in the Vicarage Road tunnel, while pointing to Van Dijk.
The Reds’ central defender did his best not to laugh, but to no avail.
Ironically, what followed was an unusually poor display by Van Dijk and a masterclass by Deeney as Watford finished the unbeaten streak of 44 games for Liverpool with a 3-0 victory.
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Dejan Lovren was widely criticized after the defeat of Watford
It was Deeney’s intimidation against Dejan Lovren that rocked the match in favor of Watford, while the Croatian defender struggled to cope with the striker all evening – but Van Dijk was not much better .
Ismaila Sarr’s first goal came after Lovren totally missed the ball as he desperately tried to contain Deeney – which happened many times throughout the match.
After the match, Deeney even confirmed that he was deliberately targeting Lovren instead of Van Dijk, saying to Sky Sports: “You are trying to choose the weaker of the two – without disrespecting Lovren.
“He tried to fight me from the throw-in and I drove him. He tried to beat me and didn’t even look at the ball and it worked perfectly because we scored from him. “
