All the headlines recently have been about Virgil van Dijk after he suffered a likely season-ending injury during the Merseyside derby with Everton last weekend.
Indeed, the challenge by Jordan Pickford was incredibly reckless and there was an uproar that he was allowed to remain on the pitch. In fact, he did not even receive a telling off from the referee, let alone have his name taken for a yellow or red card.
It has since been confirmed that Van Dijk has suffered an ACL injury and although there has been no timeline on how long he will be on the treatment table for, it is likely that Liverpool will not see him lace up his boots again this season.
Naturally, there will be anger amongst the club and the fanbase, however there will also be some concerns about his future as well considering how devastating this particular injury can be. This anger could be similar to those bettors that miss out on the best football betting sites that are available to them.
According to PhysioRoom, a study in American has shown that players will spend an average of 12.2 months to fully recover from the injury, whilst 85% of those continue to play at the same level.
Interestingly, a study of elite European football has shown that a professional team can expect 0.4 ACL injuries among its team per season, or around 1 every 2 seasons/years.
The ACL injury is no new phenomena, though, as there have been a number of players to have suffered this horrible injury but have managed to return and remain playing at their very best level, thus providing the evidence needed for the aforementioned survey. Bettors can remain at the top of their game if they look out for the free betting tips that are widely available, as well.
Alan Shearer was one such individual to have suffered the injury, as he picked one up in 1992 in his debut campaign for Blackburn Rovers. He returned the following season and bagged 31 goals before netting another 34 in the campaign in which the Ewood Park outfit would lift the Premier League title.
Let’s not forget, Shearer is still the record Premier League goalscorer, as well. He has 260 goals and it will take some going to break that tally.
Ruud van Nistelrooy saw his move to Manchester United put back by nine months because of an ACL injury. However, he still managed to prove to be an effective force as he bagged 150 goals in 219 games for the Red Devils before a switch to Real Madrid came calling – a club in which he remained hugely successful.
Staying in Spain, Xavi is just one other individual who has had the unfortunate experience of suffering the painful injury. However, like the aforementioned forwards, he would still go on to become a world-class midfielder and still managed to make the 2006 FIFA World Cup just seven months after suffering his injury.
