Virgil van Dijk goes into Liverpool's trip to Lask Linz with a painful calf knock, and he says he wants treatment before Wednesday. The captain also said, “If I’m fit and ready to play I want to play.” Dominik Szoboszlai, Cody Gakpo and Alexander Isak are also doubts, which leaves the match at Lask Linz vs Liverpool looking like a squad-management problem before anything else.
Liverpool's injury list
Van Dijk told sportsmole.co.uk: “I had a little knock in the end on my calf which is pretty painful, so I’m going home to get some treatment to be ready for Wednesday. If I’m fit and ready to play I want to play.” That is the most immediate concern, because Liverpool also lost 3-0 to Manchester City on Sunday and head into Austria with more pressure on the group than they would like.
The availability problem is not limited to one defender. Szoboszlai, Gakpo and Isak remain doubts, and the scope of the issue is bigger when you look at the league numbers too. Liverpool sit 9th in the Premier League after 6 games with 9 points and a goal difference of 0, so the room for another flat night is not large.
Austria and the league phase
There is still a decent European base under the worry. Liverpool have made a 100% start to the Champions League league phase and are on 3 points from their opening match, while Lask Linz are 28th with 0 points after one game. Liverpool have also won both previous meetings with Lask Linz, including a 4-0 home win and a 3-1 away win in 2023.
Andoni Iraola said the schedule will make recovery difficult, telling standard.co.uk, “It's true that now we play four games in 10 days, so it's going to be difficult because we fly to Austria in two days,” and adding, “I think it's going to be difficult to recover any of the players.” The line-up for Wednesday feels more about who can get through the turnaround than what shape Liverpool want to use.
Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 2 outlets. How we work →
