Van Dijk Serious Knee Injury, Probably Absent 7 Months

Virgil van Dijk tackled by Jordan Pickford in a Merseyside derby (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - Liverpool center-back Virgil van Dijk is scheduled to undergo knee surgery due to an injury he sustained due to Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford's tackle in the Merseyside Derby at Goodison Park on Saturday.

This was confirmed by Liverpool on its official website on Monday morning WIB, but the club did not give an estimate of how long the Dutch defender would be out of action due to a knee injury.

Van Dijk was brought down with a scissor by Pickford inside the Everton penalty box in the sixth minute of the match which ended in a 2-2 draw.

Because the linesman had already raised the flag for offside , Pickford was saved from the threat of a penalty kick or further a red card.

After being treated for a few minutes on the sidelines, Van Dijk was finally pulled out to be replaced by Joe Gomez, although the 29-year-old defender seemed to be able to walk alone to Liverpool's emergency dressing room.

Van Dijk's knee injury is clearly bad news for Liverpool, whose back line has been transformed into a tough one since the arrival of the former Southampton defender.

Virgil van Dijk will undergo surgery on the knee injury sustained during Saturday's 2-2 draw at @Everton .

Following surgery, Virgil will begin a rehabilitation program to enable him to reach full fitness as soon as possible.

You'll come back stronger, @VirgilvDijk 💪

- Liverpool FC (@LFC) October 18, 2020

Liverpool could have lost Van Dijk for quite a long time, given that their midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was also out for up to 293 days due to a knee ligament injury from 2018 to 2019. BeIN Sport reports that the Dutch defender will be out for up to 7 months.

"The information we received is that he has injured the anterior cruciate ligament," Richard Keys reported on BeIN Sports on Saturday evening. "He'll be out for seven or eight months if that's the case."

Van Dijk could not be the only victim of the Merseyside Derby, because Thiago Alcantara who was violently tackled by Richarlison at the end of the match was also confirmed by manager Juergen Klopp who was experiencing unusual pain.