Van Dijk was forced off the pitch after he was on the receiving end of a rash challenge from Jordan Pickford in Liverpool’s league match against Everton on Saturday.
It was later revealed that the Dutchman has suffered damage to his anterior cruciate ligament and is set to be sidelined for the majority, if not all, of the season.
Anfield great Aldridge is of the view that Van Dijk is an irreplaceable member of Klopp’s team and feels the Reds cannot afford to be without him.
However, with no way around it now, Aldridge thinks Liverpool should focus on just scoring more goals than their opponents before signing a defender in January, which he knows would be difficult.
“All over the field, we’ve got some top top players but if there was one player out of them all who you wouldn’t want to be without for any length of time, it’s the big man“, Aldridge wrote in his Liverpool Echo column.
“He’s played virtually every minute of every game since he’s arrived and is irreplaceable.
“It’s a big problem for Liverpool, there’s no sugar-coating it.
“What we’ve got to do between now and January 1 is make sure we score more than whoever we’re playing – which we can do with our firepower.
“And, then even though it won’t be easy for Jurgen [Klopp] to find the right player, go into the transfer market to buy a defender.“
With Van Dijk out, Alisson still nursing an injury and concerns over Joel Matip, Klopp will be hoping that he does not receive more injury setbacks, especially in defence.
