Virgil van Dijk Of Liverpool Returns Fully After Mentally Tough Injury

"Pretty much as good as it gets. What you need and what you go for is the result. The result depends on the performance and I thought we were absolutely good enough to win,"

Virgil van Dijk of Liverpool believes that making his first Premier League game since October was a huge step toward putting a “psychologically difficult” 10 months away due to injury behind him.

Liverpool beat Norwich 3-0 on an opening day, and the 30-year-old Dutch center-back played the entire game.

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“It’s a good start. Now we have time to recover for next week. To be back out there helping the boys, I hope to continue that. I need games – the manager knows it, I know it,” Van Dijk said.

“In the end, 3-0 sounds comfortable but at times, especially at the end, we were making it difficult for ourselves. Maybe that’s fatigue, maybe we can do better we’ll have a look at it,” He added.

Van Dijk suffered a serious knee injury in a collision with Jordan Pickford during Liverpool’s 2-2 draw with Everton on 17 October last year, and he admitted it was difficult for him to watch as Liverpool’s title defense faltered.

“Mentally it’s tough. One day you’re fully fit, the next you’re full of medication and in pain, Virgil van Dijk told Sky Sports.

Virgil van Dijk Of Liverpool Returns Fully After Mentally Tough Injury - SportRazzi
Virgil van Dijk Of Liverpool Returns Fully After Mentally Tough Injury / Photo credit: Liverpool

“Everyone has their opinion on what happened and you read those things because you have nothing to do! We had more injuries in key positions so couldn’t play our game, the way we want to play, with high pressure.

“The guys did a fantastic job to come through it. Hopefully, we can build on it and stay fit because we can’t take that for granted either.” Last season, Liverpool finished third in the Premier League, 17 points behind champions Manchester City, but rallied late to qualify for this season’s Champions League.

With their injured defenders returning and their attacking players looking to perform at their best against Norwich, they will be optimistic about providing a more competitive challenge this season.

At Carrow Road, Mohamed Salah scored twice and assisted Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino. Chelsea and Manchester United both won on Saturday, while Manchester City begins their title defense against Tottenham on Sunday ’16:30 BST’.

“It’s exciting to see the Premier League like this, all the players coming back, and I enjoy it. Thinking about our own team, if we stay fit, we have a good chance to be up there. To play against world-class strikers again and world-class teams, and when you can’t predict where you will be at the end of the season, it’s exciting,” added Van Dijk.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was pleased with his team’s start as they look to repeat their title-winning season from 2019-20.

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“Pretty much as good as it gets. What you need and what you go for is the result. The result depends on the performance and I thought we were absolutely good enough to win,” the German said.

“It was a very professional performance. I don’t need a 25-minute sensational spell and we lose the game. An away game, against a newly promoted team, in a packed stadium for the first time, they [fans] celebrate everything so I am really happy with how we play,” he added.

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