Liverpool beat Sunderland 2-0 on Saturday, but paid a tremendous price for that victory. After the game, there were fitness concerns for three key players- Philippe Coutinho, Roberto Firmino and Daniel Sturridge.
Coutinho, probably the Reds best individual player, made headlines earlier this week by stating his side’s Premier League title dreams this season. He’s right too, because Liverpool are a legitimate title contender and they should have bonafide league title dreams.
Today’s injury news could provide a major hurdle though. Coutinho suffered ankle ligament damage, a Monday scan showed and he had to be stretchered off the pitch. Here’s a link to a more detailed post on this.
He’ll be out six weeks. Liverpool Manager Jurgen Klopp maintains that his side will persevere through this, and also said that the absence of Philippe Coutinho cannot and will not be an excuse.
“Phil, as good as he is, cannot decide games on his own even if it looks like that at times. He dribbles, he shoots and he is important but it is really a team performance that we have created. He’s a very important part of that but of course we can handle it. It’s not the best thing I can imagine or dream about, to show that we can play without Phil, but we have to show it and we will show it.
“Phil’s not in, Adam is close but not in, Daniel is not in; they are all quality players but we don’t look for excuses. We want to show it’s possible to play the way we play football without them, but of course it is better if they are all fit.”
The German also maintained that the club will adjust no matter who is playing:
“Whichever squad and lineup we use it will be really difficult because of the situation and because we don’t have a lot of possibilities to change things in the offensive line,” Klopp said. “We need to make decisions but all the decisions we make will be about winning the game.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes regularly to the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye publication andBold Global.
He also consistently appears on numerous radio and television talk shows all across the country. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram and Sound Cloud.