£75m Premier League star given Arsenal return date after surprise injury blow

Jurgen Klopp expects Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk to be available for Sunday’s Premier League meeting with Arsenal at Anfield after missing Tuesday’s 0-0 draw with Stamford Bridge.

The Dutchman was a surprise omission from the Reds line-up in London, with Klopp revealing it was down to sickness. Van Dijk is due to return for Liverpool this weekend, however, as they aim to disrupt the Gunners’ title charge.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. He was ill but until the weekend we have a few days,” said Klopp at Stamford Bridge.

Naby Keita, Luis Diaz and Thiago were all absent for Liverpool against Chelsea with Diaz given an outside chance of featuring against Arsenal on Sunday.

Klopp said of Diaz on Monday: “He is in training, but he is not ready for this [Chelsea] game. As much as we want him to be back, we still have to give him time.

“Obviously it was long ago that he had the initial injury but when he came back to training in Dubai, it looked outstanding until he got injured again. So we have to make sure we are patient in that moment.

“This week, I wouldn’t say Arsenal is completely out of the picture but it’s rather unlikely. But after that then Luis will be back.”

Klopp offered an update on Thiago on Monday, saying: “We had Thiago yesterday in training, in normal team training, which is good as well, but he’s not available for tomorrow [Tuesday] of course, so we will see how he reacts. That’s it.”

Liverpool have failed to win in their last four games in all competitions, with Tuesday’s draw at Chelsea ending a three-game losing streak.

Arsenal could see their lead at the top of the table cut to five points by the time they travel to Liverpool, as Man City visit Southampton on Saturday night.