Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has said that Virgil van Dijk found it “hard” to play the full 90 minutes against Eddie Howe’s Newcastle United at St. James’ Park in the Premier League on Saturday evening, as quoted on BBC Sport.
The Reds beat Newcastle 2-0 away from home.
Darwin Nunez opened the scoring for Liverpool in the 10th minute.
Cody Gakpo doubled the advantage for the former Premier League and UEFA Champions League winners on 17 minutes.
Newcastle goalkeeper Nick Pope was sent off midway through the first half.
However, the Magpies were always in the game and forced Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson into making a number of saves.
Van Dijk started in central defence for Liverpool.
It was the £240,000-a-week (SalarySport) Dutch defender’s first appearance for the Merseyside club since picking up a hamstring injury against Brentford in January.
While Van Dijk did play well in the second half and made some important clearances, he looked rusty at times.
Jurgen Klopp on Virgil van Dijk for Liverpool v Newcastle United
Klopp said: “Virgil [Van Dijk], playing 90 minutes was hard for him.”
Staying positive
In our view, Liverpool fans should stay positive about Virgil van Dijk.
Yes, the defender struggled to complete the full 90 minutes at St. James’ Park, but we cannot ignore the fact that he has been on the sidelines for a considerable period of time.
Van Dijk will get better as he gets more playing time, and we think that the Liverpool star will be back to his best before long.
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