Netherlands Ronald Koeman has provided an update on condition, which led to the Liverpool defender's early return from international duty. after playing in the 4-0 thrashing of Hungary in the UEFA Nations League match in Amsterdam on Saturday.

With the Netherlands already securing second place in their group and the final match against Bosnia and Herzegovina being inconsequential, Koeman revealed that Van Dijk has been dealing with several minor fitness issues before the upcoming Premier League game against his old club Southampton.

"Virgil had some minor complaints, he already had that last week," Koeman explained. "He trained separately last week until Wednesday.

"Also considering the schedule that these types of players have to complete - he always plays everything. That is why we decided to send him back to the club."

This marks the second time in a row that the Dutch captain has returned to Liverpool early during an international break; last month, he missed the loss to Germany after receiving a red card against Hungary. Meanwhile, Van Dijk's teammate at Anfield, Cody Gakpo, scored a penalty in the victory over Hungary, even though former Manchester United player Wout Weghorst had previously converted one earlier in the match.

And Koeman has made his stance clear, insisting on a no-repeat of the penalty confusion. "I thought it was clear," he declared.

"Wout was number one and I think that if number one takes the penalty, he should also take the second. We talked about that and that won't happen again."

Liverpool faces a hectic run of fixtures, both domestically and in Europe, and Arne Slot will hope his talismanic skipper will be available. It remains to be seen if Van Dijk is risked for the trip to Southampton, with Liverpool then facing Real Madrid and Manchester City at Anfield.

That is followed with trips to Newcastle and Everton, with the Reds playing five games in 13 days ahead of the festive schedule, which also includes games against Tottenham, West Ham and Manchester United.