Liverpool look set to lose Philippe Coutinho for months after the star midfielder suffered damage to his ankle ligaments in their Premier League match against Sunderland.
The Brazilian forward is expected to have scans on Monday afternoon to find out the full extent of his gruesome injury. A rough challenge from Sunderland midfielder Didier Ndong, left the player writhing in pain. Liverpool went on to win the game 2-0 at Anfield. According to reports coming out of the Liverpool camp, the player is set to spend quite some time on the sidelines due to the injury.
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A fracture is not expected, but they are hoping their fears don't come true. The player made an appearance at Melwood training ground, but left in crutches and had a protective boot on his right foot.
Jurgen Klopp is optimistic of the situation at hand and hopes the midfielder will be fine soon: “Unfortunately I don’t know [the extent of the injury]. We will have to wait for a scan. What we know it is something with the ankle but that’s it. He was in pain but the pain got better. In the first moment it was very painful but at half-time he said it felt better. I have no idea what it is. I am quite an optimistic guy so I hope he can train tomorrow.”
Goalkeeper Loris Karius believes that the loss of Coutinho will not derail the team's title hopes. The Merseyside club are currently second on the table, and are hoping to push on for the title this year.
"Of course it's not nice to see your team-mate and so great a player go off injured like that. In the game, you can't worry too much about it because we needed to carry on. I'm sure he wanted us to play well and win the game. After the game, everyone was asking how he was. We have to wait and see what the doctor says. It's hard to say at the moment how long he will be out. He has obviously done something but we are all hoping for the best.
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“We have a big squad and everyone is fresh because we haven't had many games. We change a good player out and we still have high quality coming in. That's a very good sign. Everyone is confident that when we have to change a player, the player coming on keeps the level or even lifts it so that's a really good thing for us," said the German keeper who made two important saves for Liverpool.
Roberto Firmino, who was also injured in the game against Sunderland, is expected to be rested for Tuesday's EFL Cup quarter-final against Leeds United. A scan was deemed unnecessary by the club’s medical staff.
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