Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk reportedly suffered a hamstring injury during their 3-1 loss to Brentford that is ‘worse than expected’.
The centre-back was brought off at half-time as Liverpool trailed 2-0 via an own goal from Ibrahima Konate and a header from Yoane Wissa.
It was initially unclear whether Van Dijk was injured during the opening half or if he was taken off for tactical reasons.
Liverpool made a flying start after the restart as Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain pulled a goal back for the visitors.
They ran out of steam somewhat in their pursuit of an equaliser and Bryan Mbeumo’s goal on the counter-attack settled the game in Brentford’s favour.
Reds boss Jurgen Klopp revealed after the game that Van Dijk did suffer an injury but he thought that the defender “was fine”.
“Virgil felt a little bit his muscle, but he said he’s fine and he’s a very good judge of these things,” Klopp said.
“I didn’t want to take any risk. The physios looked quite happy when I said I didn’t want to take a risk. It’s not an injury, he just felt the intensity.”
The Athletic’s David Ornstein has now provided a further update. The reliable journalist is reporting that the defender’s hamstring injury is ‘worse than expected’.
The Dutchman ‘is set to see a specialist’ on Wednesday ‘to establish the extent of the injury and if it is serious enough to keep him out for a considerable period’.
There is currently ‘no timeframe’ for Van Dijk’s return but this consultation ‘should provide a clearer picture’.
Van Dijk’s injury will leave them with just Joe Gomez, Ibrahima Konate, Joel Matip and Nat Phillips to choose from at centre-back.
The Dutchman has been key to Liverpool’s success over the past few seasons as he has established himself as one of the best defenders in the world.
His form has declined this season but he has at least played a role in Liverpool beating Man Utd to sign Cody Gakpo from PSV.
The attacker initially looked likely to join United this month but Liverpool moved quickly to acquire him before their Premier League rivals.
Gakpo and Van Dijk played with each other at the World Cup for the Netherlands. The January signing as revealed that he had talks with the defender about the transfer before he joined Liverpool.
“We spoke a lot over the phone in the last days,” Gakpo revealed.
“What he told me was that this is the right move for me to make and for me to develop and to become a better…
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