Virgil van Dijk is expected to miss Liverpool’s next four games after picking up a hamstring injury.
The Dutchman came off at half-time of Monday’s 3-1 defeat to Brentford, and is now facing a spell on the side lines. Although the extent of the issue is yet to be confirmed by the club, The Daily Mail claim that Van Dijk will play no part in Liverpool’s next three Premier League games.
The 31-year-old is also clearly a certainty to miss this weekend’s FA Cup tie with Wolves.
After Saturday’s match, Liverpool then travel to Brighton for a crucial Premier League game on January 14th. Then, and perhaps most concerningly of all, the Reds face top-four rivals Chelsea at Anfield a week later.
Another game with Wolves on Saturday, February 4th will reportedly be the extent of Van Dijk’s absence.
However, The Mail do go on to claim that Liverpool’s No.4 is facing a ‘race against time’ to be fit for the first-leg of the Champions League tie with Real Madrid. That game at Anfield comes on Tuesday, February 21st.
Come back stronger, Virg
Just when you thought Liverpool’s misery couldn’t be any more complete, yet more disastrous news crops up. However, whisper it, but this isn’t necessarily the Armageddon it once was.
Of course Virgil is still the key man in Liverpool’s defence, he perhaps will be until the day he leaves the club. But this season hasn’t been his best.
In fact, being the key man in Liverpool’s defence this season is reason enough for criticism. The Reds have barely had a defence, with Alisson Becker left to do most of the dirty work himself.
There have still been the odd flashes of brilliance from Van Dijk. Martin Keown called him ‘magnificent’ for his display against Manchester City in October, and Liverpool wouldn’t have won that game without him.
By and large though, he looks like he’s playing within himself. There had been suggestions that this was due to a fear of injury ahead of the World Cup. But from the three games Van Dijk has played since then, it’s clear that his sluggishness hasn’t gone away.
As a result, maybe a little spell out isn’t the worst thing in the world for Virgil. He’s played pretty much non-stop since returning from a 10-month absence at the start of last season. Liverpool will still miss him over this four-game spell, but he can hopefully come back stronger. In the meantime, Ibrahima Konate, Joel Matip and Joe Gomez aren’t bad deputies.
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