Fans of Liverpool will be relieved after Virgil van Dijk revealed a team news teaser..
The club captain commented of the 26-year-old ahead of their Boxing Day trip to Burnley, as reported by Liverpool Echo: “Lucho, I think he had a knock on the knee but he should be fine, let’s see.”
Van Dijk’s reply was vague and did not indicate when Diaz would be considered “fine.” Nevertheless, it gives us optimism that we could see Liverpool’s number seven in action this evening at Turf Moor, which would be a great relief because his tears on Saturday hinted that this wouldn’t be a brief layoff.
Jurgen Klopp can’t afford to lose Mo Salah to the Africa Cup of Nations next month and the Reds already have Diogo Jota (who appears to be on the verge of recovering from his injury) without adding additional experienced attackers until January.
If the Colombian isn’t ready to play Burnley, Darwin Nunez or Cody Gakpo can start on the left, and if the 26-year-old can play for a while and have the desired effect, he can be kept in reserve.
With just one league goal since the beginning of November (Transfer market), Diaz’s play on the field has led Jamie Carragher to remark that he’s been “a shadow of himself,” yet Liverpool can’t function without him at the moment. Hopefully, he will be well enough to make the matchday team for today.