London (dpa)
Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp said that it will be difficult for Dutch defender Virgil van Dijk to forget what happened to him when he returns to visit Goodison Park to face Everton in the Merseyside derby in the English Premier League.
And the British news agency “BA Media” reported that Van Dijk will return to Everton, 13 months after he suffered a serious injury in the same stadium, after a strong intervention from the host team goalkeeper Jordan Pickford in the 11th minute of the two teams’ match last season, as he caused Intervention in the Dutch defender’s injury to the cruciate ligament in his right knee, ending his season in mid-October last year.
The Dutch defender is back in full fitness to start the season with Liverpool, and while he may not be able to recover his full form, Klopp does not feel that doing so will be far away.
But as Van Dijk prepares to re-enter the same heat of the Merseyside derby, Klopp is accepting the fact that his player may remember some events during that match.
“We are human beings and it is difficult to forget those things of course, but that situation always happens in football,” said the Liverpool manager.
“It’s a situation that shouldn’t happen in football, it doesn’t always happen, I don’t remember it happening in a match,” he added.
“It is unfortunate that a player suffers an injury like that, it should have been handled differently, but that is not important anymore.
Klopp explained: But Virgil has a lot of experience, and since his return, he deals with all situations and has a great experience that is sufficient for him to be present in his mind and does not have any crisis due to an incident that occurred in the past.
“So it may seem different because it’s the same place, but apart from that it’s just a football match,” Klopp said.
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