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Liverpool handed major Virgil van Dijk an injury blow.
Liverpool have been dealt a big setback after finding that Virgil van Dijk’s hamstring injury is worse than first thought.
The centre-back was substituted at halftime of Monday’s 3-1 loss at Brentford after experiencing calf pain, and Jurgen Klopp said after the game that he did not believe the issue was too significant.
“Hopefully not [an injury]. Virgil felt his muscle a little and that is fine, he’s a good judge of these kinds of things. But I didn’t want to take any risk,” he said.
“The physios looked quite happy when I said we don’t take risks. I think it’s not an injury, it’s just he felt the intensity.”
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However, The Athletic report Van Dijk will now see a specialist as the injury is more significant that initially thought.
A timeframe has not been set on the Dutchman’s recovery of yet, but this will become clearer following consultation.
Liverpool currently has four senior centre-back options. Ibrahima Konate and Joel Matip completed the encounter against Brentford on Monday, and Joe Gomez and Nat Phillips are also available. Jordan Henderson and Fabinho both played defence for the Reds during their injury-plagued 2020/21 season.
This weekend, Klopp’s men face Wolves in the FA Cup before returning to Premier League play against Brighton and then Chelsea.