Liverpool confirm Virgil van Dijk will need surgery on damaged ACL

He will miss a large chunk of the season

Virgil van Dijk will undergo knee surgery after sustaining damage to his anterior cruciate ligament during Saturday's Merseyside derby that finished 2-2. Liverpool confirmed that the injury would require an operation on Sunday afternoon, tweeting:

"Virgil van Dijk will undergo surgery on the knee injury sustained during Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Everton. "Following surgery, Virgil will begin a rehabilitation programme to enable him to reach full fitness as soon as possible."

The club have put no specific timeframe on his rehabilitation but he is expected to be out for a large chunk of the season. This leaves Liverpool with just two orthodox centre-backs in Joe Gomez and Joel Matip after Dejan Lovren left for Zenit St Petersburg in the summer. Fabinho is an option in defence but Jurgen Klopp prefers to use the Brazilian as a defensive midfielder.

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