Van Dijk backs Adrian to shine if he is needed
Virgil van Dijk is confident Adrian can slot straight into the Liverpool side if first-choice goalkeeper Alisson Becker is sidelined for a significant time with a calf injury.
Liverpool are anxiously awaiting the results of a scan after Alisson hobbled off in the first half of Friday night’s Premier League opener against Norwich, in which the Reds cruised to a 4-1 victory at Anfield with van Dijk among the scorers.
Alisson’s injury forced Adrian into a debut appearance just four days after he signed as a free agent, having left West Ham in the summer.
Although he is still settling in to the club, van Dijk is confident Adrian can make an immediate impact.
“I think he’s at that stage of his life and career that he can come in and slot in to the team pretty easy,” van Dijk said. “He’s been through so many things in the Premier League he can just slot in pretty easy.”
Jurgen Klopp has already ruled Alisson out of Wednesday’s European Super Cup against Chelsea, but the club are hoping it is not the sort of injury which could sideline the Brazilian for several weeks.
“He’s very important for us, but I’ve no idea what the actual damage is,” van Dijk said.
“We’ll see over the next days what the outcome is going to be. We have to deal with it and we’re going to deal with it.”
Liverpool never had to move too hard through the gears on Friday night, with Norwich crumbling after a seventh-minute own-goal from captain Grant Hanley.
However, some of the Reds’ defensive concerns from pre-season surfaced as the visitors piled up 12 shots on goal, having the better of the second half as Teemu Pukki pulled a goal back.
Klopp opted to start Joe Gomez alongside van Dijk ahead of Joel Matip, who forged an impressive partnership with the towering Dutchman last season with Gomez out injured for much of the campaign.
Klopp’s decision brought criticism from some quarters, but Van Dijk was pleased to see Gomez playing again after the broken leg he suffered in December.
“I think he did well,” van Dijk said. “He’s a fantastic player. We have a lot of centre-backs working at the moment, everyone is fit so the manager has to make decisions.”
Van Dijk may no longer be the world’s most expensive defender following Manchester United’s £80million deal for Harry Maguire, but he has been tipped to make the shortlist for the Ballon d’Or.
“I feel good, I feel fit, I keep improving and there’s plenty to improve as well,” he said.