Ange Postecoglou handed Tottenham boost as Virgil Van Dijk concern emerges at Liverpool
Jurgen Klopp has revealed that Virgil Van Dijk hasn’t trained for Liverpool ahead of their Premier League clash with Tottenham.
Spurs are in desperate need of a victory after falling to their third consecutive defeat as they were beaten 2-0 by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Thursday (2 May).
Ange Postecoglou’s side are unlikely to qualify for the UEFA Champions League and their poor form has instead left them looking over their shoulder.
Manchester United are just six points behind Spurs with both sides having four league games left to play this season.
As a result, Tottenham need to start picking up points if they want to avoid opening the door for Erik Ten Hag’s side, although their fixture list doesn’t get any easier as they head to Liverpool on Sunday (5 May).
Anfield has never been a happy hunting ground for Tottenham, and supporters likely won’t be confident of taking anything back to London with them.
However, Postecoglou’s side were handed a boost as Klopp confirmed on Friday (via James Pearce, 3 May) that Van Dijk has not trained ahead of the clash with Tottenham.
Virgil Van Dijk would be a big loss for Liverpool against Tottenham
If Van Dijk isn’t able to feature for Liverpool on Sunday then Spurs’ chances of victory will increase significantly.
The 32-year-old has been one of Europe’s best centre-backs over the past six years.
Following a difficult season last year, the Dutchman has rediscovered his form this term and has reclaimed his status as one of the Premier League’s most impressive defenders.
As per fbref, Liverpool’s captain ranks in the top three per cent of his positional peers in England’s top flight this season for the percentage of dribblers he has tackled (84.7 per cent per 90), while he ranks in the top one per cent for the percentage of aerials he has won (82 per cent per 90).
Despite a tricky few weeks for Klopp’s side, Van Dijk has still managed to maintain his high-performance levels.
For example, in the 1-0 defeat to Crystal Palace at Anfield (14 April), Van Dijk won 100 per cent of his aerial duels, three of his four ground duels, completed 93 per cent of his passes and made three tackles (Sofascore).
His ability on the ball is so important to the way Liverpool play, as he ranks in the 92nd percentile of Premier League centre-backs for the number of progressive passes he has played this season (5.85 per 90) and the 97th percentile for his progressive passing distance (543.31 yards per 90).
Liverpool are a different side without Van Dijk, and Tottenham could look to capitalise on that.
In other Tottenham news, the club are set to sign Santiago Gimenez as part of a double swoop.
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