Virgil van Dijk was unavailable for Liverpool’s clash in Qatar tonight.
Gary Lineker has intimated that Liverpool badly missed centre-back Virgil van Dijk tonight.
The influential centre-back was unavailable for the Reds’ FIFA Club World Cup clash with Monterrey in Qatar tonight due to an illness.
Instead, Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson filled in as a makeshift centre-back.
Naby Keita opened the scoring for Jurgen Klopp’s side on 12 minutes but Rogelio Funes Mori equalised for the Mexican outfit shortly after.
It wasn’t the first or last time that Monterrey threatened the Van Dijk-less back four, with Liverpool also missing Joel Matip and Dejan Lovren through injury.
The towering Dutchman joined the Anfield side for £75 million in 2018, and Lineker has said on Twitter that their defensive performance tonight reminded him of Klopp’s troops before bringing him to Merseyside.
Despite struggling at the back at times, the European champions pulled it out of the bag as Roberto Firmino snatched a 91st-minute winner for the English outfit.
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