Surely Liverpool can afford to rest Virgil van Dijk against Huddersfield?

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Liverpool can surely leave Virgil van Dijk out against Huddersfield Town, who are the Premier League’s joint-lowest scorers after eight games.

The giant Dutchman has been struggling with a rib injury that was first sustained before the Paris Saint-Germain clash in the Champions League.

Since that game he has played through the pain barrier, with Netherlands manager Ronald Koeman informing De Telegraaf (via the Daily Mail) that the player has actually been playing with a couple of broken ribs.

van Dijk was given permission to miss the national team’s game with Belgium, in the hope of him recovering for the weekend clash with the Terriers at the John Smith’s Stadium.

Apparently the ex-Southampton man has been requiring ‘constant injections’ to allow him to play.

Liverpool surely must rest van Dijk on Saturday

The news that van Dijk has been playing with injections is a bit of a concern.

He is obviously the club’s best defender, but he is not worth being risked in this way.

Saturday’s game with Huddersfield is surely a golden opportunity to allow him to recuperate.

David Wagner’s side have really struggled this term to fashion chances and score goals, and the Reds should have enough to deal with their attack.

Dejan Lovren is back in the picture and did well against Manchester City before the international break.

Joe Gomez has been having a fine season which would soften the blow of no van Dijk.

van Dijk is hugely important to Liverpool – they cannot afford to let him aggravate his injury and must think about the long-term. Saturday is the ideal chance to do that.