Van Dijk opens up on how his knee is doing after recovery from serious ACL injury

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Virgil van Dijk has shared that his knee has recovered well from a serious ACL injury suffered in the prior campaign following contact with Everton goalkeeper, Jordan Pickford, during the Merseyside Derby.

The Dutchman was joined on the sidelines shortly after by fellow centre-half Joe Gomez, with the Reds suffering a horrific spate of injuries across the campaign.

“As I said, I think the break helped me a lot; I came back clear-minded and ready to just give it everything for the rest of the season,” the No.4 told Liverpool’s official website.

“Performance-wise, it definitely helped, confidence[-wise] as well and obviously the knee is doing well, too.

“I think overall, we’ve got a very good rhythm at the moment where we’re winning games, which is obviously the most important thing in football, and we’re still in competitions, so that all helps and builds confidence and momentum. Hopefully we can keep that going.”

Since the former Southampton star’s return to the starting lineup, the club’s defensive record has been more than impeccable, with only 20 goals conceded (the third-best record) in the English top-flight thus far.

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We’ve seen the Dutch international get gradually accustomed to life back in the starting-XI, with him perhaps having not hit the kind of heights we’re well aware he’s capable of at the start of the campaign.

Since that point, however, the 30-year-old has come on leaps and bounds, treating fans to Rolls-Royce-esque performances that allow us to play our natural high-pressing game and set offside traps effectively.

Seemingly operating at a level far beyond that of the top centre-backs in the country, it’s hard to think back to life when Van Dijk wasn’t a fixture of this world-class Liverpool side.

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