Liverpool Star To Miss At Least 8 Games But Could Be Fit To Face Man Utd

Liverpool playmaker Philippe Coutinho has been ruled out for five to six weeks after scans showed his ankle ligament injury would not require surgery, according to the Mirror.

Coutinho was stretchered off midway through the first half of Liverpool’s 2-0 victory over Sunderland on Saturday afternoon after jarring his ankle during a 50:50 tackle with Didier Ndong.

The club conducted their own initial assessment and feared he could be facing several months on the sidelines with the Reds medical team believing the Brazilian international had damaged his ankle ligaments [source: Mirror].

Jurgen Klopp wouldn’t speculate on how long his star man would be out for at his press conference earlier today shortly before Coutinho arrived at the Spire Liverpool Hospital on crutches to undergo a scan to determine the full extent of the injury.

The Mirror claim that it’s mixed news for Liverpool as although he’s avoided surgery which would have ruled him out for several months, Coutinho is still expected to miss five to six weeks after ankle ligament damage was confirmed.

It means that the 24-year-old will be hoping to be fit at the turn of the New Year but even if he manages to return in the minimum five-week time-frame, Coutinho is still set to miss at least eight matches in all competitions.

December is going to be a hectic month for the Merseysiders and Coutinho will sit out tomorrow’s EFL Cup quarter final clash with Leeds as well as subsequent Premier League games with Bournemouth, West Ham, Middlesbrough, Everton, Stoke and Manchester City before the end of the year.

The attacker is also expected to miss the Sunderland game at the Stadium of Light on January 2nd and will be facing a race against time to play in the third round of the FA Cup the following week.

However, Liverpool will be praying that Coutinho will be ready to make his return for the trip to Old Trafford to take on bitter rivals Manchester United on January 15th.

It’s going to be interesting to see how Liverpool cope without Coutinho over the coming weeks as he’s been a key player for the Reds this season having scored 6 goals and provided a further 6 assists so far.

Klopp would have liked to move Roberto Firmino out to the left and bring Daniel Sturridge in up front, however, both players are currently nursing calf injuries so Liverpool’s squad would be stretched if both attackers are also ruled out for any significant period of time.