Virgil van Dijk will now be absent for “more than a month,” according to Jurgen Klopp.
In addition to the 3-1 loss to Brentford on Monday night, Van Dijk’s injury raised more doubts for Liverpool.
The Dutchman was forced off at halftime in west London after accruing more playing time than any other player in the first 26 games. He then saw a specialist on Wednesday.
Van Dijk missed the subsequent FA Cup third-round match against Wolves. But it was unclear how long he would be missing.
It was a “tough diagnosis,” according to Klopp, who said in his pre-game press conference on Friday that his No. 4 would probably be sidelined for “more than a month.”
He should miss the next four games as a result. And his earliest possible return date is the Merseyside derby at Anfield on February 13.
Jurgen Klopp on Virgil Van Dijk’s injury
Klopp told reporters:
“Virg was a surprise for us, obviously, a big blow. He didn’t feel a lot [at the time].
I took him off, actually, no risk. In the end, the diagnosis was pretty harsh, but we talk about weeks [out] – more than a month – [and not longer].
I hope it goes quick, but for now he is not available. That’s how it is. We have other centre-halves. As long as that’s the case, everything is OK for the team. But for Virg, it’s harsh.
He played an incredible amount of games over the last years. We cannot use him on the pitch at least. Off the pitch, we will do that.”
The manager was then questioned over whether a player’s injury resulted from normal wear and tear. He had come from an ACL injury with little rest for club or country.
He replied:
“Because he played all the games he’s recovering between the games.
He never had an issue with the muscle, never mentioned anything. We did nothing different. It was one sprint too much in that moment.”
