Playmaker Coutinho blow
Reds’ Brazilian star’s injury blues may scupper trip to Spurs’ Lane
INFLUENTIAL Liverpool forward Philippe Coutinho is a doubt for today’s Premier League trip to Tottenham Hotspur with a muscle problem.
The Brazilian playmaker missed the 5-0 midweek League Cup thrashing of Burton Albion with the injury and won’t be risked if he isn’t quite fit.
Reds medical chiefs were to assess the player yesterday before deciding whether or not he makes the visit to White Hart Lane.
On Coutinho’s condition, Liverpool boss Jürgen Klopp told the club’s website: “The muscle was a little stiff. He felt something so we didn’t want to take a risk.
“We’ve left him out of training until now. We have to make a decision with what we can do with him.”
Liverpool have had an inconsistent start to the new season, winning 4-3 at Arsenal on the opening weekend before slipping up 2-0 away at Burnley. Coutinho’s two goals against the Gunners, one of which was a sublime free-kick, were an outstanding start to the new campaign and he would be a big loss for Liverpool this weekend if he were to be unavailable.
Despite being well aware of the 24-year-old’s quality, Klopp has stressed he won’t risk Coutinho if he has any doubts over the injury.
“It is not a situation to take any risk. We have to talk to the player,” Klopp said. “From the medical side it is not a big issue, but it was big enough to leave him out of the squad for Burton.”
Meanwhile, Antonio Conte is taking nothing for granted when Chelsea host Burnley today after the promoted side stunned Liverpool last weekend.
Liverpool were found wanting against Burnley as Sean Dyche masterminded a 2-0 triumph thanks to goals from Sam Vokes and Andre Gray.
Conte is determined that Chelsea will not suffer a similar fate at Stamford Bridge. “I watched their performance against Liverpool and also against Swansea,” the Italian coach said yesterday.
“It was a fantastic performance against Liverpool from a physical and tactical aspect.
“They put great pressure on Liverpool for the whole 90 minutes,” he added. “It’s incredible because only one year ago many people paid attention to ball possession.
“This game was 25 percent ball possession for Burnley, and 75 for Liverpool, and the final result was 2-0 to Burnley.
“For this reason I told my players to pay great attention because it’s a tough game with a good side. They are very solid in defensive situations and always waiting to go on the counter-attack with two very good forwards.”
Conte has enjoyed a 100 percent start to life in England, overseeing narrow victories over West Ham United and Watford in the Premier League and a 3-2 win over Bristol Rovers in the League Cup.
“We’ve played three games, we won them all, but I know and I spoke to my players about it, we can improve a lot,” the former Italy coach added.
“I am pleased to start the season in this way, for the players and for the club after last season, to take more confidence than we did last season, but we know we must improve a lot.”
David Moyes, according to midfielder Steven Pienaar, is the right man to help Sunderland shrug off their negative mindset but it may not happen overnight.
The for mer Everton pair reunited earlier this month when Pienaar signed a shortter m contract with Sunderland, who are still looking for their first win of the Premier League season. They are among the bottom three in the league table after defeats by Manchester City and northeast rivals Middlesbrough in their first two league matches.
“David (Moyes) is definitely the man to get it right,” South African Pienaar told British media.
“You can’t forget he’s only come into Sunderland in the middle of pre-season. He’s still getting used to the players here and he’s got a lot of young players but he will definitely build a solid foundation.
“He’s definitely a safe pair of hands. And, at Everton, he often tended to start seasons slowly but finish strongly.”
Moyes, who replaced Sam Allardyce at Sunderland in July, had earlier warned fans to expect a relegation battle for the fifth season running.
Pienaar would like to see his teammates show the kind of faith in Moyes that the manager had shown in him by sign- ing him. “We have to try to push away from that mentality of only just avoiding relegation each season,” Pienaar added.
“That’s a big problem here at the moment. We have to kick on. The manager wants to instil confidence in the players, and he wants the players to enjoy their football.
“At the moment there are a lot of young players so it will be hard. It might even be a hard season but we will make progress.”
Sunderland travel to the St Mary’s Stadium to face Southampton in their next league fixture today.