Van Dijk adds to growing injury list for Reds

Liverpool's injury crisis for this season has continued as Jurgen Klopp confirmed that centre-back Virgil van Dijk will be out for "more than a month" with a hamstring problem.

The 31-year-old Dutchman suffered the injury and had to be substituted at half-time in the Reds' 3-1 away defeat to Brentford, and Klopp confirmed to liverpoolfc.com that he would be out for a while.

"He will be out for a few weeks, definitely.

"It's not a short-term and I had longer-term injuries as well in my career as a manager. So, it's somewhere in between."

ANOTHER INJURY CRISIS?

Van Dijk becomes the latest Reds player to join the injury list, with Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota, James Milner, Roberto Firmino and on-loan Juventus midfielder Arthur all still sidelined, which leaves Jurgen Klopp left with limited options for the next few weeks at the back with Joel Matip, Ibrahima Konate, Joe Gomez and Nathaniel Phillips as the only options for the manager to use. According to Italian publication interlive, the Reds are looking to try and bring in Slovakian centre-back Milan Skriniar to try and resolve the fact that Van Dijk won't be available for the next month, as his hamstring injury was confirmed to be much worse than first anticipated.

POTENTIAL DOUBT FOR THE REAL MADRID CHAMPIONS LEAGUE TIE

There is a big concern for many that the Dutchman's injury may keep him out of Liverpool's Champions League Round of 16 first leg tie against Spanish giants Real Madrid, which takes place at Anfield on Tuesday 21st February. With Van Dijk already set to miss the home game against Chelsea and the Merseyside Derby against rivals Everton on the 13th of February, their defence could be significantly weakened if the centre-back isn't fully fit to return to the squad by then.

How important is Van Dijk to Liverpool Reds fans?

ANFIELD WATCH VERDICT

Losing Virg for more than a month is terrible news for Liverpool. He is - in my opinion - Liverpool's best centre-back so to lose him for upcoming crucial games is huge. However, a pairing of Joel Matip and Ibrahima Konate should just about see the Reds through. I'd be very surprised if either one of Joe Gomez or Nathaniel Phillips are called upon by Klopp during that run that Van Dijk is unavailable, but they will hope that the Dutchman will be back for the monumental clash in the Champions League against Real Madrid.