Liverpool loanee facing lengthy layoff after horror ankle injury

October 3, 2022
Jack Lusby

After a promising start to life in the Bundesliga, Liverpool loanee Sepp van den Berg is now facing a long spell out following a horror ankle injury.

There are high hopes within the club that, upon joining Schalke at the end of the summer transfer window, Van den Berg can further cement himself as a elite-potential young defender.

While only on the fringes of the first team at Liverpool, the Dutchman immediately took up a first-choice role under Frank Kramer at the Arena AufSchalke, starting all four games since arriving in Gelsenkirchen.

Unfortunately, his fourth appears to have been his last for a while, with a shocking turn on his left ankle during a challenge with Augsburg’s Mergim Berisha leaving him needing immediate treatment.

Van den Berg was stretchered off 53 minutes into a 3-2 loss for Schalke and taken straight to hospital, where he received treatment for a potentially serious injury.

Sepp van den Berg befindet sich mit Verdacht auf eine Knöchelverletzung auf dem Weg ins Krankenhaus. Wir drücken dir die Daumen, Sepp! ??

?? 69' | #S04FCA 2:2 | #S04 pic.twitter.com/7VLxgJ9CDg

— FC Schalke 04 (@s04) October 2, 2022

The extent of his injury is as yet unclear, but Schalke technical director Rouven Schroder has confirmed it is “definitely something serious” for the 20-year-old.

“We know it’s definitely something serious,” he is quoted by Voetbal International.

“It may be a fracture. That would be a big blow to us.”

Elsewhere at the weekend, there were starts for seven other players including Tyler Morton, whose corner led to another goal for Blackburn in their 2-1 win over Millwall.

Left-back Adam Lewis recorded an assist in Newport County’s 2-1 victory against Leyton Orient, while Conor Bradley impressed again in Bolton’s 2-0 triumph over Lincoln.

Fidel O’Rourke led the line for Caernarfon Town as they lost 3-1 to Pontypridd, while goalkeepers Marcelo Pitaluga, Vitezslav Jaros and Jakub Ojrzynski all made starts for their clubs.

It was an otherwise quiet spell for the Liverpool loanees, though, with the likes of James Balagizi, Owen Beck, Billy Koumetio and Max Woltman all not involved.