[ad_1]
Jamie Carragher believes the title race has been wide open after news that Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk will need surgery to repair anterior cruciate ligament damage sustained in the dramatic 2-2 draw against him. neighbor Everton on Saturday.
The 29-year-old was one of the Reds’ key figures last season when they ended a 30-year title drought and finished 18 points clear of Manchester City.
However, he was forced to retire after 11 minutes at Goodison Park after receiving a savage challenge from Jordan Pickford, who escaped punishment because the Dutchman was offside but could still face a retrospective ban.
Jurgen Klopp said after the game that Van Dijk’s injury “was not good” and Sunday’s scans confirmed the extent of the damage.
No deadline has been set for Van Dijk’s recovery, but he is expected to be ruled out for the rest of the season.
Speaking on Sky Sports, Carragher said the explosive news means a new central defender should be a priority for Liverpool as soon as the winter transfer window opens in January.
The big question is: can Liverpool win the league without Van Dijk? Every team has three or four players on each title winning team and if one of those players is missing, no matter how good their coach is, no matter how big their team is, they cannot cover them.
“I think it opens the race for the title. At the start of the season, I felt like Liverpool were the team to beat and with Van Dijk out of what seems like the entire season now, I think it’s all going to be for Liverpool.
“Liverpool certainly have to go on the market in January, not just because of Van Dijk’s injury. Anyway, they were weak in that area, they had lost Lovren before the start of the season, and the other players who are in those positions are very prone to injury.
‘For Liverpool it is immediately: who can we enter? I know the transfer window just ended, but they have to be ready in January to bring someone in. They could stop continuing to achieve what they want to achieve. ‘
The fellow expert Graeme Souness, who faced Carragher over Pickford’s role in the incident, believes Liverpool have lost their most important player.
“ If you asked me at the beginning of the season: who is the one player you don’t want to miss for a large part of the season, people could say Sadio Mane, people could say Mohamed Salah. For me, it’s Van Dijk, ”said the Scotsman.
Liverpool still have enough team goals to do it without one of those two [Salah and Mane], but in the back is [Van Dijk’s] the catalyst for everything they do.
From getting on the field to holding the line when the time is right to do it, leaving when the time is right to leave. It is a great blow. It’s the last thing Liverpool needed. ‘
Liverpool’s season has already been hampered by Covid-19, with Thiago Alcantara, Sadio Mane, Xherdan Shaqiri and Naby Keita testing positive for the virus in the past three weeks.
Jurgen Klopp’s men open their Champions League when they face Ajax in Amsterdam on Wednesday.
Source: m.allfootballapp.com
[ad_2]
