Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has provided an update on Virgil van Dijk’s fitness ahead of his side’s clash with Leicester City on Wednesday night.
As noted by Sky Sports, the Dutchman emerged as a doubt for the game at Anfield earlier this week due to illness, and coupled with injury setbacks in defence, it’s far from an ideal time for their defensive leader to be sidelined too.
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James Milner is suspended while Joe Gomez and Trent Alexander-Arnold are still sidelined through injury as Joel Matip is being pushed back into action to fill the void.
However, there was reason for some optimism as Klopp spoke to the media, with the German tactician revealing that Van Dijk is expected to train on Tuesday with a view of being available for selection against Leicester, as per freelance injury analyst Ben Dinnery’s tweet below.
Virgil van Dijk (illness) should train today but the Leicester game will come too soon for Alexander-Arnold. Milner is suspended. Lovren and Fabinho are available. #LFC
— Ben Dinnery (@BenDinnery) January 29, 2019
While that is of course positive news given the report above notes that Van Dijk hasn’t been able to train fully since the squad returned from their training camp in Dubai, it remains to be seen whether or not it’s enough for him to be given the green light to feature in midweek.
The Merseyside giants remain four points clear of rivals Manchester City in the Premier League title race after 23 games, and so Klopp will be desperate to be as close to full strength as possible.
He is helped perhaps by the fact that Liverpool don’t play again until next Monday night when they travel to face West Ham United, which could give Van Dijk enough time to continue his recovery regardless of whether or not he is able to feature on Wednesday night.
