Why Philippe Coutinho surpasses Liverpool legends - and John Stones' injury is a blow for Man City

Liverpool may need to replace Philippe Coutinho one day - and with each passing week, the task looks more difficult.

Should he leave, where would Liverpool get a replacement? Could West Brom or Southampton have the answer?

Plus, is Manchester City's most recent injury setback a far bigger blow than it may appear? Could it halt their seemingly unstoppable momentum? And why are Burnley dancing to Status Quo?

BBC Sport takes a look at some of the statistics from the latest action in the Premier League.

Is Coutinho replaceable?

Coutinho's devilish outside-of-the-foot pass to create Liverpool's second goal against Southampton, in Saturday's 3-0 win, took his tally to 31 Premier League assists for the club - one more than Robbie Fowler and Michael Owen.

He has ground to make up on the 58 goals Steve McManaman created in the Premier League era, while Steven Gerrard is in the distance on 92.

The chances of the Brazil international eclipsing Gerrard look slim - and not just because the words 'Coutinho' and 'Barcelona' will appear alongside one another in countless articles come the January transfer window.

Though Coutinho is creating a goal every 348 minutes, bettering Gerrard's mark of 447 minutes, the Brazilian is still only churning out assists at a rate of 0.22 per game.

At that rate, he would need to play another 284 league games in England to pass Gerrard - or more than seven seasons.

Could Liverpool keep the 25-year-old for that long? Also: Do they need to keep him?

The fact he has been involved in 14 goals in his last 15 games would suggest the answer is a resounding 'yes'. On that evidence, you certainly want him in your fantasy football team, though only 5% of players in the Premier League's official game have him picked.

But if Liverpool do offload Coutinho and need an assist king the stats suggest they could benefit by signing Southampton's Dusan Tadic or West Brom's Matt Phillips. Sounds crazy? Look at the table below - both have more assists per minute than Coutinho.

Stones loss to Guardiola formula

Manchester City certainly appear to need little creative spark with Kevin de Bruyne in their ranks. Pundits have waxed lyrical over Pep Guardiola's side but a key piece of their jigsaw will now be temporarily missing.

John Stones will miss around six weeks with a hamstring injury. The 23-year-old is so often City's go-to man in sticking to their ethos of playing from the back. No defender who has played at least 180 minutes this season can better his 97% pass-completion rate.

Stones' absence could therefore place extra emphasis on his fellow defenders to start moves but it also causes a noteworthy disruption to Guardiola's procession towards the title.

The Spaniard has only made three defensive changes in City's last eight league games and all were forced upon him.

Benjamin Mendy's injury in September ushered in a run of five league games featuring Stones, Nicolas Otamendi, Kyle Walker and Fabian Delph. Only the suspension of Otamendi for Saturday's win at Leicester ended the run.

Vincent Kompany deputised for Otamendi and will now likely fill the void left by Stones. That is a tough ask for a player who has started just 27 league games since August 2015.

There is a simple solution if Guardiola wants to avoid disaster, and it comes at the other end of the field - keep playing Gabriel Jesus.

The striker is yet to experience defeat in a league game in England, a run of 21 matches. Former Arsenal keeper Jens Lehmann holds the record for avoiding defeat as a newcomer in the Premier League with a run of 47 matches between August 2003 and October 2004.

The opposite of clinical?

City's Jesus must think playing in the Premier League is easy. His total of 15 goals in 21 league games is the type of record Huddersfield's Thomas Ince and Southampton's Nathan Redmond must dream about.

Neither man has a Premier League goal this season, though it's not for the lack of trying.

These guys are beginning to fall into that bracket highlighted by commentators when your side miss a chance. You know the one: "If there was one man they didn't want on the end of that move, it was him."

Ince has had 30 attempts at goal this season - if we include blocked shots - and only seven have hit the target, the same mark as Redmond from his 27 efforts.

Redmond perhaps sums up Southampton's blunt offering. Saints failed to land a shot on target at Anfield on Saturday. Their striker Shane Long, who played for 79 minute, is without a goal since 11 February - a run of 30 games in all competitions and 22 in the league.

Southampton's return of nine goals this season is the fewest they have hit in 12 games since 1998-99, when they finished 17th.

Perhaps it is time for them to bring in Brighton's Glenn Murray or call upon their former striker Peter Crouch, now at Stoke. Crouch has three goals from six attempts this season, while Murray has four from 12. None of the top tier's traditional front men have been more efficient.

All over? Or is there hope at Palace?

Crystal Palace ended a 731-minute wait for a league goal in beating Chelsea 2-1 on 14 October. It seems to have galvanised them.

Their goal-starved fans have seen things change markedly under new boss Roy Hodgson, to the point that Saturday's 2-2 draw with Everton at Selhurst Park means they have scored twice in three consecutive home games for the first time since 1991.

That new-found touch in front of goal has come with an upturn in form. After losing their opening seven league matches, Palace have picked up one win and two draws from their past five games.

They are digging in, yet seem doomed with just five points. Only Everton - in 1994-95 - have had fewer points at this stage and survived.

In many ways, Liverpudlian Scott Dann epitomised Palace's season so far in gifting Everton a second goal. His was the sixth error leading to a goal that Palace have committed this season - no team has more.

There are nuggets of encouragement. No side have created more chances from set-pieces than Hodgson's, on 25. From open play, their mark of 107 chances is ninth in the league.

Their tally of five points, though, is paltry. The now infamous Derby County side - relegated in 2007-08 with 11 points - had six by this stage. Still, it could be worse. Benevento - newcomers to Serie A - are breaking unwanted records, having played 13 and lost 13 this season.

Burnley among the Status Quo

On 18 January 1975, Burnley secured three top-flight wins in a row, a record they equalled by beating Swansea 2-0 on Saturday.

The last time the Clarets achieved that feat, Status Quo were top of the UK singles chart with 'Down Down'. Burnley will have no concerns the hit may offer a soundtrack to a relegation season as they sit level on points with Liverpool and Arsenal.

No-nonsense defending underpins their success. Across Europe's big four leagues, only Bayern Munich, Roma, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Manchester City and Manchester United have conceded fewer than the Clarets' nine goals this season.

Unlike some of those dominant names, Sean Dyche's side face frequent attacks and resist admirably. They top the Premier League standings for shots faced (209), blocks (73), clearances (399) and headed clearances (231).

Central defender James Tarkowski has made more clearances than any player in the league, while the man typically alongside him - Ben Mee - sits third.

Only Leicester have a worse pass-completion rate (71%) than Burnley on 72%, so there is room for improvement, but Dyche's side have a defensive record most club's can only dream about.