Virgil van Dijk is on track to surpass his highest minutes total for Liverpool in a single season, underlining personal achievement but also club concerns.
One of the greatest assets a player can have is availability. Van Dijk has it in bucket loads.
With the exception of the season that was ended early due to an ACL injury (2020/21), Liverpool’s captain has missed only 55 of the club’s 411 games since he arrived in January 2018.
It is a testament to his professionalism and quality that he not only backs up one game after the other, but also maintains his high level of output at now 34.
While it is impressive that the Dutchman has started 32 consecutive games for Liverpool in all competitions, one behind Jamie Carragher‘s record set between 2009 and 2010, there is a greater risk at play.
Virgil van Dijk Liverpool stats: Breaking down record minutes
Virgil van Dijk: Liverpool Availability (Full Seasons)
| Season | Minutes | Apps | Missed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018/19 | 4,465 | 50 | 3 |
| 2019/20 | 4,590 | 50 | 7 |
| 2020/21* | 567 | 8 | 45 |
| 2021/22 | 4,620 | 51 | 12 |
| 2022/23 | 3,645 | 41 | 11 |
| 2023/24 | 4,071 | 48 | 10 |
| 2024/25 | 4,437 | 49 | 7 |
| 2025/26 | 4,041 | 45 | 2 |
| TOTALS | 30,436 | 342 | 97 |
* Reflects the 2020/21 season-ending ACL injury. Figures represent all competitive club appearances.
Van Dijk will certainly break and then extend the record currently held by Carragher, as long as no injury is sustained during the international break, with the potential to start at least 10 more in a row.
If he does just that, Van Dijk will have easily played his most minutes in a single campaign for the club, surpassing his current best of 4,620, achieved in his first season back from ACL surgery in 2021/22.
It is, without a doubt, incredibly impressive how consistent and reliable the No. 4 has been throughout his Anfield career, and it is down to his unwavering professionalism.
“Obviously staying fit is a big thing in my way of life and in order to do that, you obviously need to make sure you eat well, rest well,” he told Rio Ferdinand in 2024.
“I’ve got a little team around me that makes sure that that’s the case. I think that if you want to stay at the top, that’s definitely a major thing.”
On what his team looks like, he explained: “Chef, fitness coach obviously, massage, treatment, those are the main things basically.”
Van Dijk is committed to his routine irrespective of Liverpool’s travelling schedule, with meditation, breathing exercises, ice baths, sauna visits and swimming all habitually practised.
It ensures his name can be listed among the starting XI multiple times in the same week, but there has been a noticeable shift under Arne Slot‘s tutelage.
Virgil Van Dijk Dependency: Minutes Under Arne Slot
Since Arne Slot took over in the summer of 2024, Virgil van Dijk has been the mainstay in the side, featuring in almost every competitive minute available.
Total Available: 9,300 mins
Current: 8,478 mins
Utilization: 91.2%
Van Dijk has been involved in 94 of Slot’s 103 fixtures to date.
In Jurgen Klopp‘s final three seasons, Van Dijk was left out for a combined 33 games, only 13 due to injury, illness or suspension, with the need to rest the Dutchman a priority for the German.
Under Slot, however, Van Dijk has not been involved in only nine of the Reds’ 103 fixtures, otherwise playing a total of 8,478 minutes of a possible 9,300 in all competitions.
That is equivalent to 91.2 percent of the Dutchman’s Anfield tenure.
The reliance on Van Dijk is expected and understandable, but it underlines the shortcomings of Liverpool’s squad and the risks the club are taking.
Liverpool planning for life after Van Dijk: Successors and squad depth
Slot has had his hands tied in some respect when opportunities to rest Van Dijk have come, thanks to injuries to Giovanni Leoni, Conor Bradley, Joe Gomez and Jeremie Frimpong throughout the campaign.
He has been reliant on Van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate, who has also not missed a game due to injury this season, in central defence, with Gomez managed due to his injury record and the issues plaguing right-back.
With Andy Robertson needed to rotate with Milos Kerkez, the club’s youngsters not trusted to start, and a failure to sign another centre-back in the summer or January, it left Van Dijk in the XI against even League One’s Barnsley.
The last time the 34-year-old was rested entirely was in the 3-0 Carabao Cup defeat to Crystal Palace on October 29, nearly five months ago.
As the oldest member of Liverpool’s squad, it leaves concerns over his increased likelihood of injury and fatigue-induced errors when you also factor in his starting role for the Netherlands.
It points to the gaps in Liverpool’s squad planning and the need for Slot to widen his circle of trust, even if the No. 4’s fitness success continues.
Liverpool’s head coach spoke highly of Van Dijk’s fitness last month, suggesting a continuation could lead to another contract extension beyond 2027 as he discussed potential successor Jeremy Jacquet.
“We are aware of the fact that Virgil will not play for this club for 10 more years,” the head coach said.
“But he has a one-and-a-half-year contract left so he will be with us for that period of time and maybe even longer if he keeps staying as fit as he is now.
“
“We are not stupid, we do know that somewhere in the upcoming years there is life for this club without Virgil.”
“Because I’ve said it before, what a compliment to him at his age to play every three days, not only for our club but also for his country, for seven or eight months already.
“So yeah, hopefully he can stay as fit as he is for multiple years.
“But this club, we are not stupid, we do know that somewhere in the upcoming years there is life for this club without Virgil.”
Jacquet and Leoni will, hopefully, be Liverpool’s mid-to-long-term future in central defence, but the reliance on Van Dijk has yet to wane.
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Ultimately, Liverpool find themselves in the predicament of needing Van Dijk on the pitch to boost their chances of winning, and balancing having him fit for the long-term and learning to play without him.
He turns 35 in the summer, which will see him play in the World Cup, and is encroaching on a career-high minutes haul at Anfield, which is a testament to his staggering durability, but also a reminder of the position the club have neglected.
As Van Dijk has said so many times before, players are not robots, and that means they all require rest from time to time – even the machine that is the Liverpool captain.