Klopp Makes Concerning Admission About Virgil Van Dijk

Klopp Makes Concerning Admission About Virgil Van Dijk

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp says that they will have to wait and see whether Virgil van Dijk will be fit enough to face Flamengo on Saturday.

The Dutchman was omitted from the side that narrowly beat Monterrey 2-1 in the Club World Cup sem-final yesterday, but when asked for an update on the defender, Klopp was non-commital regarding his prospects of featuring at the weekend.

“Yes, he was yesterday [Tuesday] on the [training] pitch for a couple of minutes until the media left and then, unfortunately, he had to leave as well. Not because of the media, just because he didn’t feel well.”

“So yesterday no training was possible, this morning [Wednesday] no training possible, so it was an easy decision – he couldn’t play. It was difficult for Hendo to deal with, but he did really good. We will see, I don’t know how quick he can recover. We will see.”

The Reds are desperately short of centre-backs at the moment. Joel Matip is out with a knee injury while Dejan Lovren is struggling with a thigh muscle problem.

Ki-Jana Hoever and Sepp van den Berg are flying out to Qatar in order to provide cover, following their game against Aston Villa in the Carabao Cup, and it remains to be seen whether either player will be needed if van Dijk can’t recover from his illness.

Flamengo will be a step up on the match against Monterrey and Klopp will be hoping that he doesn’t have to use Henderson at the back once again.