July 30, (THEWILL) – In the best news for Liverpool fans since last season irrespective of the result of their pre-season 4-3 defeat against Hertha Berlin, two of their staunchest defenders Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez made their long-awaited returns from injury in Thursday as substitutes in the match played at the Tivoli Stadion Tirol, Innsbruck in Austria.
THEWILL recalls that the mercurial centre-back Van Dijk had not featured since a clash with Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford in last October’s Merseyside derby left him needing anterior cruciate ligament surgery on his right leg.
Van Dijk’s centre-back partner Gomez suffered a similar spell on the sidelines, having also sustained a knee injury in the course of last season to plunge Liverpool into prolonged defensive frailties which gave manager Jurgen Klopp many a sleepless night from the horrendous results that came as a result.
As pleased as Klopp was to have both leading defense men back in the squad, the German manager made certain to ease the pair back into action. He left introducing them until they could get 20-minute cameos in the Reds’ final pre-season game in Austria.
The loss to the Bundesliga side illustrated how dearly the Reds need defensive reinforcements, which Klopp spent the second half of last season ruing while working with makeshift arrangements and new names that came in in the January transfer window.
Two goals from the Hertha pair of Santiago Ascacibar and Suat Serdar set the tone of the match before Senegalese attacker Sadio Mane and returnee forward Takumi Minamino restored parity for the Reds. Hertha pulled the two-goal trick again with a Stevan Jovetic brace to restore their double advantage.
Even in their cameo showing, the Van Dijk and Gomez duo made their presence felt differently. While Gomez earned a caution from the referee, Van Dijk attempted one of his headed goal attempts only to see it saved.
The scores were made respectable when Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain finished for Liverpool’s third following up and created a frenzied final moments. But Hertha refused Liverpool a dramatic draw and held on for the victory.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
