Virgil van Dijk scores against Everton at Hill Dickinson Stadium
Virgil van Dijk scores against Everton at Hill Dickinson Stadium (Image: ( Gareth Copley/Getty Images))
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Virgil van Dijk’s stoppage-time winner for Liverpool added insult to injury for Everton after the hosts had to defend a corner kick in the dying seconds of the game without their most valuable player, Jarrad Branthwaite, who had been stretchered off the pitch with 87 minutes on the clock.
After suffering a reoccurrence of the hamstring injury that kept him out of the Premier League Summer Series in the Blues’ final pre-season friendly against Roma – the inaugural first-team game in front of fans at Hill Dickinson Stadium – the 23-year-old was forced out of the action again in the latter stages of the first Merseyside Derby at his club’s new home on the waterfront.
In between all of that, the England international missed eight months of competitive football before returning to action against Leeds United in late January.
And while Everton were hopeful of keeping him fit for the remainder of the campaign, even if that meant managing his minutes at times, the sight of him being carried off the turf is not just a sickening blow to them but to the player himself, as his season could now be over, along with any lingering outside hopes of forcing his way into Thomas Tuchel’s World Cup plans.
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The Blues could have really done with his presence for that late Liverpool corner and for their remaining five fixtures to boot as they look to secure a European place.
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