Liverpool commence their plans for the new campaign in just under a month’s time but there’s concern at the moment regarding the fitness of captain Virgil van Dijk.
Netherlands boss Ronald Koeman has confirmed the 34-year-old was suffering with pain in his calf which was ‘bothering him badly’ as the Dutch were dumped out the World Cup by Morocco last night.
The tie finished 1-1 after 90 minutes and extra time and was therefore decided on penalties at Estadio Monterrey in Mexico.
“Van Dijk had already indicated during the match, in extra time, that his calf was bothering him badly,” former Everton boss Koeman explained (as quoted by Liverpool.com).
Liverpool take on Sunderland on July 25 in the US before also facing Wrexham and Leeds United in the days following as part of their pre-season tour as part of preparations for 2026-27.
From the 48-teams competing in this year’s World Cup, the Anfield-based outfit had eight of their players competing.
Just Alisson Becker, Alexander Isak and Alexis Mac Allister remain with the tournament having now entered the knockouts stages.
Our No.4 played every single minute for the Netherlands in the tournament so there’s no surprise that after a further 120 minutes the central defender was feeling it.
The former Southampton man also played every single Premier League minute for Liverpool as the Reds secured a top five finish and qualification for next season’s European Cup.
It’s not great to hear he was in pain – but it’s completely normal after a long season and he now has a few weeks to rest up.
Having been knocked out of the tournament, van Dijk can be expected to return to club involvement during the final week of July but is unlikely to feature in the first friendly – even if he is fit to do so.
Any Liverpool players that do reach the World Cup final won’t return until August 10 with the Premier League campaign beginning less than a fortnight later.
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