Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has sent a message to the injured Virgil van Dijk ahead of side's clash against Liverpool.

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Last season's two Premier League sides do battle at the Etihad on Sunday evening, although the Reds will be without their defensive stalwart.

Van Dijk is expected to miss the rest of the season after underdoing surgery on his knee following a dangerous tackle from Jordan Pickford in the Merseyside derby.

Guardiola sent his well-wishes to the defender and claims he would have preferred to have him on the field.

"The most important thing is that the surgery was good and I hope he can recover as quickly as possible," Guardiola said, as per the Mirror.

"I will miss him, I like to play with the best players on the pitch and Liverpool remains an incredibly top team because the structure is there, every player knows what they have to do and the result against Atalanta - we faced them last season and know how hard it is to beat them away - and they did it. Liverpool remains a top class team."

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