Virgil van Dijk adds to Liverpool’s injury problems as defender joins Mohamed Salah in returning early

Van Dijk captained the Netherlands in their 3-0 win against Germany but will not travel to Belgium for their international friendly

Virgil Van Dijk is ruled out of the Netherland's friendly against Belgium (Getty)

Virgil van Dijk has added to Liverpool’s mounting injury problem and has returned from international duty early, along with Mohamed Salah.

After Van Dijk captained the Netherlands to a 3-0 victory against Germany, during which he scored, the Dutch FA revealed that the Liverpool defender would not be travelling with the rest of the squad to Belgium to play in an international friendly on Tuesday.

The central defender continues to suffer from a rib injury that forced him off in Liverpool’s 3-0 win against Southampton a month ago and it was declared that he would not be risked to play in Brussels.

Liverpool travel to Huddersfield on Saturday then host Red Star Belgrade in their third Champions League match on Wednesday 24 October.

While Van Dijk’s international absence appears precautionary, there may be bigger concerns over Salah, who was forced off with a muscle strain during Egypt’s 4-1 win against Swaziland on Friday.

The forward was ruled out of the second match and released from the squad to receive treatment.

A statement from the Egyptian Football Association read: “Javier Aguirre (Egypt manager) has decided to let Mohamed Salah return to his club and not participate in the Swaziland match on Tuesday to give him more rest.

“During the previous match against Swaziland, Salah complained of stress in the musculoskeletal muscle.

Mohamed Salah also returned from the international break early (Getty)

“He was examined medically and radiation was performed on the area of complaint after the game.”

Ahead of the second international break of the season, Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp said that the Uefa Nations League is the ‘most senseless competition in the world’ and was hoping for his players to return ‘fresh’ after a tough period.

“The boys unfortunately go away again now and have to play Nations League games – the most senseless competition in the world of football!” Klopp said after drawing 0-0 against Manchester City in their final Premier League game before the break.

“We hope that they come back healthy and play these easy competitions, the Premier League, the Champions League and all this.

“It’s tough times for the boys, eh? We have to start thinking about the players.

“Somebody asked me, ‘Is the level of the game (against City) because of the intensity?’ – already in the question there is criticism (suggesting) it could have been better if you were fresher.

“If you want to see fresher, give them a summer break – for Jordan Henderson it was exactly two weeks, which is funny. But that’s how it is.

“That’s why I say going away is not a big problem but now you call a manager of any country and ask him to leave out one or two players and he says, ‘I am under pressure as well’ because now it’s Nations League.”