Virgil van Dijk is facing up to a spell on the sidelines for Liverpool after suffering a hamstring injury at Brentford.
The Netherlands captain was substituted for Joel Matip at half-time at the Gtech Stadium with the Reds trailing 2-0 at the break following goals from Ben Mee and Yoane Wissa.
Jurgen Klopp initially said the substitution was merely a precaution but subsequent checks have now confirmed a hamstring injury for Van Dijk, who could now be set to miss the rest of the month.
Further assessments this week will give a clearer indication as to how long Van Dijk will be out of action for.
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It means the Dutch defender will be on the shelf for the next few weeks at least, however, with the Reds set to provide an update on their £75million centre-back ahead of Saturday's visit from Wolves in the FA Cup.
It's unclear if either Klopp or his assistant Pep Lijnders will take charge of pre-match press conference duties on Friday but an update on Van Dijk will be forthcoming from Liverpool management.
Van Dijk would likely have sat out that game regardless, but the setback for the No.4 has come at an awkward time for Liverpool as their push for a top-four place continues. With Brighton and Chelsea still to play in the Premier League this month, the absence of the influential Van Dijk represents a massive blow for Klopp.
It means Joel Matip is likely to deputise alongside Ibrahima Konate in the meantime with Joe Gomez and Nat Phillips also vying minutes during Van Dijk's recuperation period.
Speaking after the 3-1 loss at Brentford, Klopp said of Van Dijk's injury: “Virgil felt a little bit the muscle and said it is fine, and he is a very good judge of these kinds of things. But I didn’t want to take any risks. The physios looked quite happy when I said we don’t take risks. It’s not an injury, he just felt the intensity.”
The injury just adds to an already significant list of absentees for Klopp. The Reds boss is also without Diogo Jota, Luis Diaz, Roberto Firmino, Arthur Melo, James Milner currently.
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