Virgil van Dijk, Liverpool defender, is “out for more than a month” with a hamstring issue, according to manager Jurgen Klopp.
The 31-year-old Van Dijk has participated in each of Liverpool’s league games this year.
“It was a surprise for us and a big blow. The diagnosis was pretty harsh,” said Klopp before Saturday’s FA Cup tie with Wolves.
“We talk about weeks, more than a month. It’s a muscle thing – nothing different to say – it was one sprint too much in that moment.”
“For Virgil, it is hard for him but he played an incredible amount of games over the last years and we cannot use him on the pitch, only off the pitch, and we will do that.”
“He never had an issue with muscles before and it just now happened. That’s how it is. We did nothing different.”
In addition to Joel Matip, Ibrahima Konate, Joe Gomez, and Nathaniel Phillips, Klopp has a couple of center-back alternatives.
Jordan Henderson, a midfielder for Liverpool, is back in the lineup after missing the Brentford game due to a concussion.
Klopp continued on Henderson: “He did exactly what he was allowed to do yesterday – big parts of team training without heading.”
“And from today on I think he’s completely allowed to do everything.”
What Happened To Virgil van Dijk?
Virgil van Dijk was taken off as Liverpool trailed Brentford 2-0 at the interval on Monday, and Jurgen Klopp later revealed it was a hamstring issue.
The Reds put up a terrible first-half performance, giving up an own goal by Ibrahima Konate and then a Bees goal by Yoane Wissa.
While playing their first Premier League games of 2023, the London team defeated their Merseyside rivals 3-1.
After the first 45 minutes, Klopp was unimpressed and made three replacements, including bringing the 31-year-old captain Van Dijk off the field.
The other two players removed at halftime were Konstantinos Tsimikas and Harvey Elliott, who both received yellow cards in the opening ten minutes.
Naby Keita, Joel Matip, and Andrew Robertson were the players added by Klopp in the second half; the latter player was given the captain’s armband for the remainder of the game.
The manager’s decisions appeared to benefit Liverpool, as Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scored a goal for them in the 50th minute.
However, Bryan Mbeumo’s goal with six minutes remaining restored Brentford’s two-goal lead following the two goals in the first half.
In the first half, the Bees also twice had the ball in the net, but those attempts were disallowed for offside.
Due to their loss, Liverpool dropped to sixth place in the Premier League, two points behind Brentford, who moved up to seventh.
Van Dijk, a former Southampton center defender, played at the center of the Dutch defense at the 2022 World Cup and has made 145 appearances for Liverpool since joining them in 2018.
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