Virgil Van Dijk

Liverpool CB Virgil van Dijk suffers torn ACL in Merseyside Derby

The anger for Liverpool FC fans hasn’t gone anywhere following the controversial Merseyside Derby against Everton on Sunday. Not only did the Reds have a goal ruled out due to a more than questionable offsides call, but Liverpool also should have been awarded a penalty when Jordan Pickford viciously took down Virgil van Dijk in the box.

 

To make matters even worse for Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool FC, van Dijk went down with a knee injury on that play and gingerly walked off the pitch with the help of trainers. Now, the latest Liverpool news is absolutely heartbreaking, as it was announced the superstar centre back suffered a torn ACL and is all but lost for the rest of the campaign.

Known as one of the best defenders in the world, van Dijk is one of the leaders on this team. He may not be the club captain, but his voice is always being heard on the pitch.

 

Losing van Dijk for what appears to be the rest of the season is a massive blow for the team’s hopes of repeating as the English Premier League champions. The season has already gotten off to a bit of a rough start for Liverpool, highlighted by their 7-2 defeat at the hands of Aston Villa. While sources close to the team say the club won't rule out him returning later this campaign, that seems unlikely with a torn ACL. The last thing they'll want to do is rush him back too soon. 

 

For Liverpool, they’ve also had to play without Brazilian goalie Alisson Becker due to injury. Now, the defense’s problems have been made even worse with van Dijk getting ready to go under the knife. While there was no ill intent from Pickford on the play, how in the world was a penalty not called on this foul?

 

As you can see in the video above, Pickford went full speed at van Dijk and took him down. A man of van Dijk’s stature does not simply fall to the ground with a soft challenge. It has to be something of massive proportion, which was clearly the case on Saturday in the derby.

 

Now, Klopp must get his team to regroup and refocus with some big English Premier League games coming on the English Premier League schedule, while they’ve also got to get mentally prepared for the Champions League as well.

 

It won’t be easy, and things have been made one million times more difficult with van Dijk set to undergo surgery on his knee and not play in another game this year.

Back to blog