Jurgen Klopp and his players have commented on Virgil van Dijk, after his potentially season-ending injury against Everton.
The Dutchman tore his ACL after ten minutes in the 2-2 draw with Everton in the Merseyside Derby.
Captain Jordan Henderson – who suffered heavily in the past with plantar fasciitis – lauded the impact they will be missing with Van Dijk away from the squad in rehab.
"“Virgil’s a huge player for us, and he’ll be a massive loss both on and off the pitch.“Everybody is feeling for him, it’s not a great situation but we need to stay together and strong for him.“We’ll try to use it to make us even stronger”."
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Between facing Tottenham in February 2018 and this Saturday, Van Dijk played 8355 minutes in the Premier League – more than any other player, ironically it’s Jordan Pickford who comes closest (400 less).
This is potentially why the reaction has potentially gone overboard, with #RipVirgil trending on Twitter last week.
Of course a part of that comes from jovial rival fans – but manager Jurgen Klopp took it upon himself to praise the centre-back and keep him as part of the Liverpool family.
"“Look, Virgil is our boy. He’s the boys’ (Liverpool teammates’) brother, my son, whatever you want, and he’s injured so it’s massive.“Will we miss him? Of course, everybody would miss him – but we really as a group felt for him.”"
Klopp will look to Fabinho – who deputised wonderfully against Ajax – to fill Van Dijk’s void until he returns to action.
The Brazilian won man of the match as Liverpool beat Chelsea alongside ‘VVD’ earlier this campaign, and did so again last night in the UEFA Champions League.
Another midfielder who has deputised in defence for Liverpool in previous seasons is Gini Wijnaldum.
His pain for Van Dijk will be at both club level and international level – with Van Dijk a doubt for EURO 2021.
"“When we were speaking with the lads after Saturday (the Merseyside Derby), I think none of the players slept because of what happened with Virgil and the way it happened.“It is really a hard one to take (for myself), and also a hard one for the team to take.”"
Liverpool will prepare to face their first Premier League game without Van Dijk on Saturday, when they take on Sheffield United.
Will Liverpool be able to cope without Van Dijk?