Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk sustained a hamstring injury that is worse than expected during their 3-1 defeat by Brentford on Monday.
Van Dijk, 31, was withdrawn at half-time of the loss in west London, with Liverpool losing 2-0 at that stage of the game.
The Netherlands international had an initial consultation and is set to see a specialist today to establish the extent of the injury and if it is serious enough to keep him out for a considerable period.
No timeframe has been confirmed but the consultation should provide a clearer picture.
Manager Jurgen Klopp had been optimistic about Van Dijk’s condition after the match, saying: “Virgil felt a little bit his muscle, but he said he’s fine and he’s a very good judge of these things.
“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.”
Van Dijk’s injury leaves Klopp with Joel Matip, Ibrahima Konate, Joe Gomez and Nat Phillips as senior centre-back options and is the latest blow to Liverpool, who are also currently without Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota, Arthur Melo, James Milner and Roberto Firmino.
Liverpool only have three matches remaining in January — the FA Cup tie against Wolves, which is followed by league fixtures against Brighton & Hove Albion and Chelsea. The Merseyside club also have their Champions League round-of-16 first leg against Real Madrid to consider, which comes in seven weeks’ time on February 21.
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New year, same problems for disjointed Liverpool
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