Virgil van Dijk: Liverpool fans feared the worst when he went down injured for the Netherlands | OneFootball

Despite finishing third in the end, Liverpool fans will want to forget all about the 2020/21 Premier League season.

Jurgen Klopp insisted his side wouldn’t defend their title but attack it.

They did neither.

By Christmas, they were out of the title race. But the damage had been done in October during the Merseyside derby.

Liverpool drew 2-2 but colossus defender, Virgil van Dijk, was ruled out for the remainder of the season after Jordan Pickford’s tackle resulted in a serious knee injury.

The Reds were unconvincing for the rest of the campaign and finished trophyless without arguably the greatest defender in the world marshalling their backline. They certainly weren’t helped with further injuries to Joe Gomez and Joel Matip.

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Now, though, Van Dijk is back and Liverpool are looking like the Liverpool of old.

And the defender is back being the Rolls Royce defender that he is.

However, fans of every club - especially Liverpool - would be holding their breath throughout the two week international break. With a lack of squad depth, Klopp definitely can’t afford to have any of his star players injured whilst representing their country.

Especially Van Dijk.

However, in the final few minutes of the Netherlands’ emphatic 6-1 victory over Turkey, the centre-back went down in pain, holding his ankle.

Look away now, Jurgen.

With it coming at the end of the match, Van Dijk didn’t have the opportunity to walk it off and fans were left wondering how he was.

Fortunately, the Liverpool man fronted up in the post-match interview and made clear that he’s fine.

“I’m fine, luckily. I’m already over it,” he insisted. “Maybe because I am so big, they think I am acting, because when I go down, it goes in quite a slow way.”

Phew.

Liverpool face a tough trip to Leeds on Sunday looking to maintain their unbeaten start to the season. Their chances of doing so will be massively boosted if Van Dijk is fit enough to play.