Southampton blow as star man ruled out for three months

Southampton have been dealt a crushing blow just prior to their EFL Cup semi-final second leg against Liverpool with news star man Virgil Van Dijk could be ruled out for three months with ankle ligament damage, reports The Sun.

Van Dijk, 25, limped off midway through the second half of Southampton’s 3-0 win over Leicester at the weekend and was initially rated as a huge doubt for their trip to Anfield on Wednesday night after leaving Saint Mary’s wearing a protective boot.

However, the Netherlands international will certainly not feature against Liverpool and is now set to miss most of the remainder of the season after scan results revealed Southampton’s worst fears.

Van Dijk, who was heavily linked with a big money move away from Southampton this month, may now only return to first-team action for the final month of the season and will not make the trip to Wembley even if his teammates manage to protect their narrow 1-0 advantage over Liverpool.

Claude Puel was already short of options at the heart of the Southampton defence following Jose Fonte’s departure to West Ham over the weekend and may now have to call upon inexperienced 22-year-old defender Jack Stephens to partner Maya Yoshida at the heart of their defence on Wednesday night.

In the last two Premier League campaigns only two players have won the WhoScored Man of the Match award more times than Van Dijk (10).

For more stats on Virgil Van Dijk, click here to visit his WhoScored player page