If there was a tiny shadow of negativity following our barbaric win over Manchester City yesterday, it was that the best player on the pitch limped off with an injury after 68 minutes.
Thankfully, Coutinho had done enough in that time to put the result beyond doubt, but perhaps more importantly – he’s not badly injured.
“I hope [he] is well enough,” Jurgen Klopp told the official website following the match.
“He showed not a real [injury], it was a little bit of cramp, he felt something.
“I hope that’s all, he will be very important for us, everybody can see he’s in really good shape in this moment. I hope he can react well enough.”
It looked for all the world like the magician had done his hamstring, but if it was just cramp, all the better.
Coutinho ran the show at the Etihad, and showed to everybody that when he’s on his day, he’s one of the very best players in the Premier League. David Silva wasn’t on the pitch, but if Coutinho maintains the kind of levels he’s displayed so far under Klopp, we can eventually consider him in the same bracket of world-class playmaker.
The 23-year-old scored our second goal and made the first and third, wonderfully finding pockets of space between City’s defence and midfield.
We next play Bordeaux at home, where Coutinho can perhaps expect a rest, but have a crucial Premier League tie against Swansea at the weekend. Hopefully, if it really was just cramp, the superstar will be ready for the Anfield tie.