Liverpool and Netherlands suffer blow as Van Dijk withdraws from international duty

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk will not compete in this month’s Nations League fixtures after withdrawing from international duty. The Dutch national team announced on Monday that he and Sunderland striker Brian Brobbey “aren’t fit enough to feature in the upcoming Nations League matches”.

“Both players did not return fit from the past weekend,” it added. Liverpool released a statement saying he would not participate in the Netherlands’ games against Greece and Germany “due to a fitness issue”, but did not specify what. The Netherlands play Greece in Amsterdam on Friday before travelling to Berlin for the second fixture next Monday.

Van Dijk played all 90 minutes of Liverpool’s 3-1 win over Crystal Palace on Sunday and was set to travel straight from Selhurst Park to join the national team. Brobbey hobbled off with a muscular problem and was replaced by Wilson Isidor 67 minutes into Sunderland’s 1-0 win over Chelsea on Sunday.