Liverpool's hopes of retaining their Premier League crown have been handed a major blow by Virgil van Dijk's potential season-ending injury, says Jamie Carragher, who believes that the title race is now "all on" with the Dutchman sidelined.
Van Dijk, the talismanic centre-back at the heart of the Reds' triumph last term, was on the wrong end of a Jordan Pickford challenge during Saturday's hotly-contested Merseyside derby against Everton and had to be taken from the field inside the opening quarter-hour of the 2-2 draw at Goodison Park.
Subsequent scans confirmed that the 29-year-old had picked up an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury, which means a spell of several months out of action, handing a serious problem to both Jurgen Klopp's side and the Netherlands national team, of which Van Dijk is captain, ahead of Euro 2020 next year.
Now, former Anfield favourite Carragher has raised questions over just how the club will react to the loss of the defender, who has often proven a crucial matchwinner for them since his arrival from Southampton, with the pundit adding that he feels the race to finish top of the pile this term is now open wide.
"Well, I think the big question you look at now, you think, [is] can Liverpool win the league without Van Dijk there?" he told Sky Sports.
"I think every team has three or four players in every title-winning team who think they can win the title, and if one of those players are missing, no matter how good your manager is, no matter how big your squad is, you can't cover for them, they're that outstanding.
"So I think it blows the title race wide open, I really do. I still felt at the start of this season that Liverpool certainly were the team to beat, and I think with Van Dijk being out for what looks like the whole season, now I think it's going to be all on."
The former defender added that the Reds would have to take steps ahead of the 2021 mid-season transfer window to bring key reinforcements to Anfield if they hope to be able to retain the levels of success achieved over the past two seasons, pointing to the exit of Dejan Lovren as a major blow in hindsight for the club.
"I think Liverpool certainly have to go into the market in January, not just because of Van Dijk's injury but because Liverpool were weak in that area anyway," he noted. "They'd already lost Lovren before the start of the season and the other players who are in those positions now are very injury-prone.
"It's devastating news for Virgil van Dijk, [we] pass on our wishes. But I think for Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp now, [the question is] who can they get in?
"I know the transfer window's just finished but they have to be ready on January 1st to bring someone in because they're really weak in that area and that could stop them going on to trying to achieve what they want to achieve."