Liverpool: Virgil van Dijk makes early Reds return from international duty 'on medical grounds'

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Evening Standard

·18 November 2024

Liverpool: Virgil van Dijk makes early Reds return from international duty 'on medical grounds'

Alongside Frenkie de Jong, Dutch captain will not play in Tuesday’s final Nations League group clash in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Virgil van Dijk has made an early return to Liverpool from international duty “on medical grounds”, the Netherlands have confirmed.

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The Reds and Oranje captain played the full 90 minutes for his country in Saturday’s thumping 4-0 win over Hungary in the Nations League in Amsterdam that secured their progress through to the quarter-finals as runners-up in Group A3 behind rivals Germany.

The Netherlands conclude their group campaign away against Bosnia and Herzegovina on Tuesday night, but neither Van Dijk nor Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong will make the trip to Zenica as they instead return to their respective clubs ahead of schedule.

“For both Frenkie and Virgil it is better for them to leave the training camp at this moment,” said Dutch boss Ronald Koeman on Monday. “That decision was taken on medical grounds, with of course the interest of the players coming first.”

Return: Virgil van Dijk will be back with Liverpool earlier than expected before Southampton trip

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However, neither player is thought to be currently injured, with reports stating that both are simply managing their respective workloads.

The early return of a non-injured Van Dijk is an obvious boost for Premier League leaders Liverpool, who return to action following the latest international break with a trip to face struggling Southampton in the top-flight on Sunday.

“He [Van Dijk] will return to the AXA Training Centre this week for assessment ahead of the Reds’ campaign resuming with a trip to Southampton on Sunday,” Liverpool said in a statement.

De Jong, meanwhile, has endured an injury-plagued spell at Barcelona and will hope to experience no further setbacks with Hansi Flick’s in-form side currently sitting top of LaLiga ahead of Saturday’s visit to Celta Vigo.

Liverpool will hope to have the likes of Alisson and Trent Alexander-Arnold both in contention to face Southampton this weekend following their respective injuries, while summer signing Federico Chiesa and Harvey Elliott will also look to prove their fitness.

However, the game may come too soon for Portuguese forward Diogo Jota, whom manager Arne Slot said before the recent 2-0 win over Aston Villa that he expects back a week or two following the international break after a chest issue suffered against Chelsea last month.

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