Virgil van Dijk has dropped a hint on one Liverpool teammate which could have Reds fans breathing a sigh of relief.
The 1-1 draw against Arsenal came at a cost, with Luis Diaz (knee) and Kostas Tsimikas (collarbone) forced off through injury. The Greek defender is unlikely to be seen for quite some time, but the outlook on the Colombian is far brighter.
Speaking ahead of the Boxing Day trip to Burnley, the club captain said of the 26-year-old (via Liverpool Echo): “Lucho, I think he had a knock on the knee but he should be fine, let’s see.”
Although the open-ended nature of Van Dijk’s comment didn’t specify when Diaz would be ‘fine’ for, it offers hope that we may see Liverpool’s number 7 in action at Turf Moor this evening, which’d be a huge relief as the sight of him in tears on Saturday suggested that it wouldn’t be a minor layoff.
The Reds already have Diogo Jota injured (although he seems to be close to a comeback) and will lose Mo Salah to the Africa Cup of Nations next month, so Jurgen Klopp can’t afford to have any more senior attackers unavailable without making reinforcements in January.
Even if the Colombian isn’t fully fit to face Burnley, there’s the option of starting Darwin Nunez or Cody Gakpo on the left and keeping the 26-year-old in reserve if he’s able to feature for a portion of the game and make the desired impact.
Although Diaz’s form on the pitch has led Jamie Carragher to comment that he’s been ‘a shadow of himself’, with just one league goal since the start of November (Transfermarkt), Liverpool can’t do without him right now. Fingers crossed he might be fine to at least make the matchday squad today.
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