"That’s Why We Changed Him" - Jurgen Klopp Reveals Reason For Virgil van Dijk's Half-Time Substitution vs Brentford

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has revealed the reason behind Virgil van Dijk's surprise half-time substitution against Brentford at the Brentford Community Stadium on December 2.

A tactical change which saw Van Dijk being replaced would have been unheard of, given the centre-back's status at the club. As it turns out, it was a precautionary move from the German tactician.Speaking after his team's 3-1 loss against the Bees, Klopp told beIN Sports (h/t Mirror):

"Virgil felt the hamstring a little bit. He said he is fine, but when I said we don’t take any risks, the physios were quite happy with that. I think it is nothing serious, but that’s why we changed him."

“I don’t think it’s an injury, he just felt the intensity.”  

Speaking after the Reds' triple substitution, Carragher said, via the aforementioned source:

"He has to make changes at half time, it shows how disappointed he is. It’s interesting with the Virgil van Dijk one, whether that’s an injury or if he had to make the change because he has really struggled."

"Brentford have got joy in behind, he had to make changes because that was an unacceptable 45 minutes from Liverpool." 

Source: Sportskeeda