Virgil Van Dijk has damaged a previous cruciate ligament against Everton and Liverpool have suffered a devastating injury in need of surgery.
No deadline has been set for the absence of the influential defender and Liverpool sources are reluctant to deny him a return this season, but he has been facing for several months and the possibility of missing the rest of the campaign cannot be ruled out. The extent of this surgery will only be known after one surgery and its subsequent evaluation and the operation has not yet been arranged.
English goalkeeper Jordan Pickford’s referee Michael Oliver or VAR official David Cote escaped punishment and English goalkeeper Jordan Pickford suffered a horrific accident on Saturday in the Merseyside derby.
Van Dijk was taken to hospital on Sunday after a game for a scan and a consultant was seen after Liverpool’s most feared threat was confirmed.
“After the surgery, Van Dijk will begin a rehabilitation program with the club’s medical team to enable him to reach full fitness as soon as possible,” the club said in a statement.
Liverpool hope Van Dijk’s exceptional fitness record and strong mentality will enable him to recover quickly.
Jurgen Klopp was brilliant after a 2-2 draw, with VAR failing to review Pickford’s case and a fracture against Sadio Money, deciding to reject Jordan Henderson’s 92nd-minute goal. The defeat of Van Dijk represents a major setback for Liverpool’s chances of retaining the Premier League and the confusion over their expectations in the Champions League.
The Netherlands captain has been signing changes since Liverpool’s 2018 75 million transfer from Southampton in January 2018, and the rise of the Premier League champions and Champions League winners under Klopp has been almost permanent. He played every minute of Liverpool’s previous le4 league games before Saturday. He did not miss a single minute of Premier League football after suffering a rib injury against Southampton on 22 September 2018.
“I don’t know how many games I’ve played,” Klopp said Saturday. “He played with pain but he couldn’t play and it’s not good.” With Van Dijk’s injury, the departure of Dejan Lovren in the transfer window, Klopp has left only two established central defenders, Joel Matip and Joe Gomez, until January, both of whom have no fitness records. Defensive midfielder Fabinho has been deployed to central defense several times.
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There was also a scan of Thiago Alcantara due to a knee injury in Derby after Richardson’s dangerous foul. The injury needs to be resolved before the midfielder’s problem is known, but Liverpool are hopeful it’s not serious. The Everton forward, who was shown a red card directly by Oliver, apologized to Thiago on Saturday.
Liverpool have asked the Premier League to review the use of VAR in the Derby and to find out why Pickford’s challenge was not investigated, why any part of Man’s body was deemed offside and decided to fix the VAR frame at that moment.
The club believes there should be more clarity about how VAR has reached its conclusion and is concerned about the confusion and contradictory interpretations it has so far. Liverpool may also ask PGML for clarification on VAR’s application at Goodison Park.
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