Liverpool boss offers update on Van Dijk ahead of Man Utd trip as 7 players miss game

Liverpool will be looking to boost their chances of finishing in the top four with a positive result against Manchester United on Sunday afternoon.

Jurgen Klopp has been speaking to the media ahead of the trip to Old Trafford and has provided a team news and injury update which included the latest on the fitness of Virgil van Dijk.

The Dutchman has been undertaking a gruelling rehabilitation programme in recent months since having knee surgery back in October 2020 but fans have been encouraged by the progress he’s been making lately.

Van Dijk shared footage on social media on Thursday showing him running on the training pitches and Klopp has confirmed the centre-back has stepped-up his rehab along with some of Liverpool’s other long-term absentees.

Joe Gomez, Joel Matip and Jordan Henderson have also began running again after serious injuries but Klopp was quick to point out they still have a long way to go before they’ll be ready to resume full training again.

Asked for an update on Van Dijk ahead of the game against Man Utd, Klopp told Liverpoolfc.com:

“I don’t have enough English words to describe the same thing more often. Yes, he is running – Hendo is running, Joe is running, Joel is running. That’s all good; imagine they wouldn’t be able to run in the moment, that would be really bad.

“They are running and in rehab it always starts with straight-line running; I’m not sure if you saw Virg running a lot of curves or just straight, so there are a lot of things to come. You go through a lot of steps until you are finally ready to join team training, especially with long-term injuries – there are a lot of steps to go and they are all quite a way from that.

“It means nobody told me, ‘Fasten your seatbelt, make yourself ready, the boys will be in team training next week.’ No, nothing changed really, but they are in a good way.”

So it looks like Liverpool fans will have to wait a while longer before they’ll see the likes of van Dijk or Gomez back in full training so the Reds will continue to be short of options at centre-back for the foreseeable future.

Klopp did tell reporters today that the club have no fresh injury concerns and the injury situation is ‘all the same in this moment’ so it looks like none of their absentees will be ready to face Manchester United this weekend.

That means Nat Phillips will miss the clash with United due to a thigh injury, Divock Origi is still nursing a muscle problem while Caoimhim Keller is out with an abdominal injury.

The trio will join van Dijk, Henderson, Gomez and Matip in missing the Manchester United game this weekend so Klopp will be without seven players for the trip to Old Trafford on Sunday.