Enter, Dejan Lovren.
Virgil Van Dijk has only made one appearance for Liverpool so far and what a debut it was, scoring a late winner against local rivals Everton in the FA Cup.
But the Reds will be without their £75m centre-back for this afternoon’s clash against Manchester City as he is suffering from a tight hamstring.
Big blow for #LFC. Van Dijk set to miss today's game v Man City…… https://t.co/itsIORHhJW
— James Pearce (@JamesPearceLFC) January 14, 2018
Despite what opposition fans would try to tell you about Virgil Van Dijk’s price tag, the Dutch defender was worth every penny because Liverpool had to stop mucking around in the transfer market and his signature represented, for once, the club just going out and buying the best they could possibly buy.
His absence for the visit of the unbeaten Man City is a cruel blow however, especially on Paddy Power who went to the time and effort – and lots of gold – to erect a statue of Virgil Van Dijk outside Anfield for Sunday’s clash.
WORTH HIS WEIGHT IN GOLD: Ahead of Virgil Van Dijk's Liverpool Premier League debut, we've erected a statue of him outside Anfield, as a to-scale representation of what £75million in gold looks like!
And unusually for footballer statues, it actually looks alright. pic.twitter.com/4lGzBZruTL
— Paddy Power (@paddypower) January 14, 2018
They were spared their blushes at kick off though when Van Dijk wouldn’t have appeared for the game. Instead, the plan backfired much earlier as police ordered the nine-metre statue to be removed owing to a ‘bomb threat’.
Police have ordered a nine-metre gold statue of Virgil van Dijk to be removed from Anfield amid fears of a bomb threat.
( Express ) pic.twitter.com/KiynTLfURY— LFC Round Up (@LFCroundup) January 14, 2018
But all that aside, football fans were only really concerned with the football believe it or not, and Man City supporters took great pleasure in indulging in a bit of schadenfreude, knowing Liverpool will be hugely weakened by Van Dijk’s absence.
https://twitter.com/ammrmqree/status/952498119295430656
Liverpool fans, on the other hand, are significantly less optimistic of their chances today since the news broke. Dejan Lovren doesn’t fill them with confidence…
Lovren. Just fucking great. 🤬🤬🤬
— Soph Mac Allister (@feesaysrelax) January 14, 2018
https://twitter.com/FirminoFalse9/status/952499845641785344
— Soph Mac Allister (@feesaysrelax) January 14, 2018
https://twitter.com/SS_LFC/status/952496754842394625
van Dijk will miss today’s game with a hamstring injury pic.twitter.com/BDMYTVzEzM
— Its painful being Zimbabwean (@Saint_Oswald) January 14, 2018
“Virgil Van Dijk set to miss today's game with a tight hamstring.” pic.twitter.com/kZ66kqgSIP
— LEWIS (@lewislowbridge) January 14, 2018
Liverpool did of course beat City at Anfield last season with a central defensive partnership of Dejan Lovren and Ragnar Klavan, thanks to an early header from Gini Wijnaldum.
They were without the recently departed Philippe Coutinho in that fixture too.
City have improved since then, but so have Liverpool, with Mo Salah firing all cylinders.
Despite Van Dijk’s absence and City’s unbeaten record this season, this afternoon’s game is far from a foregone conclusion. Liverpool will have to make up for their defensive shortcomings by exposing Man City’s weaknesses.
The last time the sides met, at the Etihad in September, the game was evenly poised before Sadio Mané’s red card for dangerous play. Salah had been successfully targeting Nicolas Otamendi but the red card completely changed the balance of the match.
The Reds will look to do the same again and hope it pays off this time, in what should be an enthralling encounter.
