Jurgen Klopp reveals Virgil van Dijk discomfort as reason for substitution in Liverpool vs Brentford
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has revealed that Virgil van Dijk was feeling a bit of discomfort at half-time against Brentford. The German manager subsequently decided to take off the Holland international.
The 31-year-old played the first 45 minutes of the game as the Merseyside outfit were two goals down at the break. In the end, the match at the Gtech Community Stadium ended in a 3-1 defeat for us.
Speaking after the loss to the media via Liverpool Echo, Klopp disclosed that Van Dijk has an issue with his muscles. However, the substitution was just a precautionary measure.
“Virgil felt a little bit the muscle and said it is fine, and he is a very good judge of these kind of things. But I didn’t want to take any risks.
“The physios looked quite happy when I said we don’t take risks. It’s not an injury, he just felt the intensity.”
Liverpool visited the West London club in the Premier League on Monday (2 December). The Reds had been on a four-game win streak in the English top flight. Unfortunately, we were unable to build on it.
The Reds had a chance with Darwin Nunez, but we were unable to capitalise. Brentford looked dangerous from set pieces throughout the fixture. The Bees got their first goal after a corner deflected off of Ibrahima Konate. It was an unlucky own goal from the France international.
Yoane Wissa went on to find the back of the net twice. However, VAR ruled the goals out. But then the 26-year-old doubled Thomas Frank’s team’s lead just before half-time, with his header beating Alisson Becker.
Klopp made three changes at the break; one of them was bringing Joel Matip on for Van Dijk. The Holland international has not been at his best in the current campaign. The Merseyside outfit as a whole have looked shaky.
Liverpool pegged a goal back through Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. However, the 29-year-old’s contribution went in vain as Bryan Mbeumo put Brentford in a comfortable position once more with his striker in the 84th minute.
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We could have overtaken Tottenham Hotspur and would have climbed to fifth in the PL table with a win over the Bees. The top four is still within reach and the Reds need to bounce back against Brighton & Hove Albion on 14 January.
