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Philippe Coutinho: Liverpool midfielder ready for Burnley - Jurgen Klopp

Last updated on .From the section Footballcomments73

Liverpool boss Klopp on Coutinho and Mignolet

Liverpool midfielder Philippe Coutinho could make his first start since his summer transfer request and a series of bids from Barcelona in Saturday's home Premier League match against Burnley.

Coutinho, 25, missed the first five games of the season with a back injury before coming on in Wednesday's 2-2 Champions League draw with Sevilla.

"He is ready for us to think about him," said Reds boss Jurgen Klopp.

"He has trained outstanding in the few sessions that we have had so far."

Coutinho was given a warm welcome by the Anfield crowd on Wednesday when he came off the bench, despite submitting a transfer request in August hours after a club statement insisted he would not be sold.

Spanish giants Barcelona made three offers for the Brazil international over the course of the summer, culminating in an bid of about £114m.

After the transfer window closed without a move materialising, Brazil team-mate Neymar claimed it was a moment of "anguish, disappointment and sadness" for Coutinho and his family.

"It was really nice how the crowd welcomed him," said Klopp. "I don't think anyone was 100% sure on this. I was really happy that as a Liverpool family, we were sensitive to it."

Philippe Coutinho
Philippe Coutinho was a 76th-minute replacement for Emre Can against Sevilla

Burnley are a place above Liverpool in the table and have taken four points from away games against last season's top two - Chelsea and Tottenham - so far in this campaign.

"Nobody should think that this is an easy game for us," added Klopp. "We need freshness in mind and legs for this game.

"There will be really small spaces. There is not a lot of easy situations where you can outplay them."

Liverpool beat Burnley 2-1 at home last season, but lost 2-0 at Turf Moor after failing to break down the Clarets despite having 80% of possession and 26 shots to the hosts' three.

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73 comments

  • Comment posted by Bird, at 17:29 15 Sep 2017

    I fail to understand how Coutinho, Sanchez, Van Dyke and others can be welcomed back the fans of their clubs. They have all tried to force moves away from clubs that have them under very well paid contracts and behaved pretty poorly to try and get what they want. It hardly shows allegiance or respect .

    Not aimed at any set of fans in particular - What a fickle lot us football supporters are.

  • Comment posted by The Todger, at 17:00 15 Sep 2017

    who actually cares anymore?

  • Comment posted by User0067186236, at 19:28 15 Sep 2017

    Great news about Clarke Carlisle being found safe and well in Liverpool. Still no sign of Lovren and Matip.

  • Comment posted by weather12, at 16:45 15 Sep 2017

    Best way Coutinho can show that he is worth what Barcelona offered for him is to start finding the back of the net.

  • Comment posted by CanaryJP, at 16:56 15 Sep 2017

    How Liverpool rejected £119 million for him is quite frankly an insult to the sport. No doubt he is a very talented player but that's stupid money. He'll need to score 26 90yard overhead kicks and and cure world hunger to prove he's worth more than that

  • Comment posted by User0595398018, at 17:31 15 Sep 2017

    can't blame a player of his quality wants to leave.

    At least Coutinho handled situation better than the other one at BVB.

  • Comment posted by minecalm, at 17:00 15 Sep 2017

    Hes not gonna help with liverpools defensive woes

  • Comment posted by The Old Trafford Career Derailment Scheme, at 17:20 15 Sep 2017

    These are the games they dominate possession with 70% plus and squander a hatful of shots, and the opposition has 1 shot on target, scores it and wins. Sometimes defending is the best form of defence

  • Comment posted by REDANDY, at 18:25 15 Sep 2017

    Personally don't have any issue with Coutinho, a player hands in a transfer request(which they're allowed to do) Liverpool refused to sell. The player didn't kick up a fuss or bad mouth the club or manager. End of story as far i'm concerned.

  • Comment posted by Sharpshooter78, at 16:57 15 Sep 2017

    Good! 3pts please, that will make me happy! Not bothered about the other teams and what might happen, we just need to win our games.

  • Comment posted by time for tea, at 17:16 15 Sep 2017

    Glad he's over that terrible 'back' injury... Time he starts playing to the high standards required this is the kind of game Liverpool always seem to struggle at how about Gomez in the middle for a while don't think he's a RB and stop messing with changing about the keepers get rid of Lovern & Klaven in new year too & get Robbo in at LB a lot to ask for JK?

  • Comment posted by caaw, at 16:39 15 Sep 2017

    Oh look, joy of joys! Yet another comments section about LFC so the kids can come and try throe verbal rocks. Great thanks so much I can't wait to enjoy the repetitive drivel

  • Comment posted by We all laugh at the London stadium, at 19:53 15 Sep 2017

    @45 Neil

    Best virtue signalling of the day chap!

  • Comment posted by User0803400951, at 19:47 15 Sep 2017

    "but lost 2-0 at Turf Moor after failing to break down the Clarets despite having 80% of possession and 26 shots to the hosts' three."

    Against Sevilla ~20 of LFC's 24 shots were pot shots from ~25yards out... didn't win.

    Same players, same system, same performances, same tactics, same defence.

    No rational reason to expect different results!

  • Comment posted by cienfuegos, at 18:36 15 Sep 2017

    YMCA

  • Comment posted by D1679538495847, at 16:55 15 Sep 2017

    Lets see how Barcelona get on in their league:

    if they are behind by even a few points I can see them coming back with an improved offer in January.

    But if they are ahead they won't.

    He will be cup tied for CL having played I believe, so they might just wait a year instead, but if he doesn't perform this season they might not bother.
    Think LFC should have taken the money personally.

  • Comment posted by OssieWaddledintoHoddlesVilla, at 21:55 15 Sep 2017

    Let's not delude ourselves, he needs to play football to stay in the frame for selection for Brazil. It's world cup next summer, he's playing for himself, gone in January.

  • Comment posted by City and chelsea are sugar daddy clubs up the gers, at 17:54 15 Sep 2017

    Outstanding?? Seriously . He is average at best , greedy predictable weak and loses the ball alot, like he did when he came on against sevilla, i cant believe barca where about to waste such money on this serial loser, hes worse than sanchez and aguero, erikson is twice the player and no one ever mentions him cant blame him for wanting to leave and go to a big club but hes a europa league player

  • Comment posted by User0067186236, at 18:32 15 Sep 2017

    Expect Klopp to give him a big hug so everyone thinks he is a such a lovely man and not a clueless manager who abuses officials and has no respect for opposition managers or players. The British media keep falling for it.

  • Comment posted by D1679288437133, at 19:18 15 Sep 2017

    @24... Right!?!? Must be a pretty sad existence to visit stories of teams you don't like just to make it painfully obvious you don't!!....Anyway... sure, get Phil back in the mix and see if he can help break Burnley down as they aren't an easy nut to crack...and credit to them on that, Dyche has done an excellent job of forming their identity and players knowing their roles

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