Klopp confirms the worst: Van Dijk to be out for more than a month
The German coach confirmed at his press conference on Friday 6 January that the centre-back may not be for the Champions League tie against Real Madrid.
Santa Claus, it seems, has arrived late to Jürgen Klopp’s house, and he hasn’t even brought anything nice. The German coach, who at first played down the importance of Virgil van Dijk’s substitution in the Premier League match against Brentford, sat down at the press conference prior to the game against Wolves and announced that the central defender will be out for at least a month.
After the journalist Paul Joyce announced days ago that the injury could be more serious than expected, the Liverpool coach has now admitted that the player will face a spell out of action. “It was a harsh diagnosis. We talk about weeks, more than a month but I hope it goes quick. We have other centre-halves.””.
Tough tests ahead for Liverpool
Liverpool face a tough month ahead, and will have to play Chelsea, Brighton, Newcastle, Wolves and rivals Everton in the league, where they can not afford to drop points given the lack of form throughout the campaign so far.
And, on February 21, the Reds will host Carlo Ancelotti’s Real Madrid at Anfield in the first leg of the Champions League Round of 16, now a game that the Dutch defender is in danger of missing. What’s more, according to the words of Jürgen Klopp, “it’s a big blow” as he could just miss out by a few days, depending on how his recovery process goes.
Klopp’s other options at the back
The other centre-backs that the Liverpool coach spoke about are Joel Matip, the Dutchman’s usual partner at the back, Ibrahima Konaté, who has played only five games so far this season, Joe Gomez and Nathan Phillips.
Liverpool have signed Cody Gakpo in the Janaury window, snapping him up from under the noses of rivals Manchester United, but have yet to be linked with a centre-back.
READ: Is Cody Gakpo the replacement for Luis Diaz?
