Southampton’s star defender suffered an ankle injury in their 3-0 win against Leicester on Sunday in the Premier League as he failed to complete the match. And following scans yesterday, the extent of the blow has revealed a serious problem for Claude Puel. Centre-half Van Dijk will now certainly miss Southampton’s crucial EFL Cup semi-final second leg against Liverpool at Anfield tonight (7.45pm).

GETTY Virgil van Dijk will not play again for Southampton until at least April

The Saints lead the tie 1-0, but even a return in time for a Wembley final is off the cards, as according to The Sun, the Dutchman is expected to be out until mid-April. Depending on his recovery when undergoing rehab, Van Dijk may not even feature again until the final month of the season. With fellow central defender and club captain Jose Fonte having just been sold to West Ham, Southampton are now seriously light at the back.

Chelsea were very interested in making a move worth £60million

While it’s a boost for Liverpool ahead of tonight’s showdown, the Reds along with a host of Premier League sides will now end a January pursuit of the 25-year-old. Express Sport understands Chelsea were very interested in making a £60million move for the highly-rated former Celtic man this month. Elsewhere, Pep Guardiola wanted to bring Van Dijk to Manchester City as a long-term replacement for injury-prone Vincent Kompany.

GETTY Antonio Conte wanted to bring Virgil van Dijk to Chelsea to bolster his defence

Liverpool predicted XI to face Southampton Tue, January 24, 2017 Express Sport brings you Liverpool's predicted XI to face Southampton in their EFL Cup semi-final second-leg clash Play slideshow Getty Images 1 of 12 Who will Jurgen Klopp start against Southampton in the EFL Cup?