Manchester United and Everton legend Wayne Rooney has stood by his recent remarks about Virgil van Dijk after the Liverpool captain hit back over the weekend. The ex-United and England skipper had criticised Van Dijk's body language last week following the Premier League loss to Brentford.

Liverpool have endured a torrid campaign for large portions, with Saturday's 2-0 triumph over Aston Villa ending a sequence of four consecutive league losses for the defending English top-flight champions. Prior to that victory against Unai Emery's side, Arne Slot's outfit had suffered defeat in six of their previous seven fixtures across all competitions.

Rooney had suggested Van Dijk was lacking in leadership qualities this term.

In reply, the Dutch defender stated after the 2-0 win against Aston Villa that he believed the critical comments were "lazy".

"Well, I didn't hear him last year," Van Dijk said, when asked about Rooney's words. "It doesn't hurt me, to be honest, I feel like, just to come back to this particular player, and this obviously a legend, big player of the game - I can say all the only...