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Virgil van Dijk Not Over Jordan Pickford Tackle Ahead Of Merseyside Derby, Says Jurgen Klopp

Virgil van Dijk Not Over Jordan Pickford Tackle Ahead Of Merseyside Derby, Says Jurgen Klopp

Virgil van Dijk returns to Goodison Park for the first time since his horror injury.

Nasir Jabbar

Nasir Jabbar

Jurgen Klopp admits Virgil van Dijk is not completely over the crushing knee injury that kept him out of action for ten months.

Van Dijk was ruled out for a lengthy period of time following a clumsy challenge by Jordan Pickford in the Merseyside derby in October 2020.

He suffered an ACL injury in his right knee and subsequently had surgery, ruling him out for the season.

Image: PA
Image: PA

The Dutchman, 30, returns to the scene of the injury tonight as Liverpool face Everton in the Premier League.

And ahead of the Goodison Park clash, Klopp reckons the memory of his injury against Pickford will be in his head.

"We are human and it's difficult to forget something like that," he said.

"That situation should not happen in football and it does not happen very often. Virgil's very experienced and he has dealt with this situation.

"It might be more difficult because it's in the same place, but apart from that it's just a football game.

"Of course, it is a derby and we understand the supporters' souls but we must try to treat it as just another game.

"It was a long time ago now and we just want to play football.

"You must have cool heads in a derby game. We are an emotional team but we use our emotion the right way."

Image: PA
Image: PA

Van Dijk has started in every league game this campaign since returning to action.

His side sit in third place in the table, with 28 points on the board as they mount a challenge for the league title

As for Everton, they're languishing in 14th place and are just five points adrift of the relegation zone.

Featured Image Credit: PA/Football Daily

Topics: Liverpool, Football, Jordan Pickford, Virgil Van Dijk, Jurgen Klopp

Nasir Jabbar is a journalist at SPORTbible. He graduated from Bath Spa University with a BA in Media Communications. He's a combat sport aficionado and has contributed to MMA websites AddictedMMA and CagePotato. Nasir has covered some of the biggest fights, while interviewing the likes of Conor McGregor, Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury and Darren Till. He's also an avid Bristol City fan.

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