Liverpool

Jurgen Klopp confirms Philippe Coutinho set to miss several weeks for Liverpool

Published Dec. 9, 2016 1:06 p.m. ET

Alex Dowd

As the fixtures come fast and thick during the holiday season, Liverpool will be without Philippe Coutinho for a significant portion of them. It was expected Coutinho would miss an unspecified amount of time after suffering an ankle injury in Saturday's win against Sunderland, but manager Jurgen Klopp has laid out a more concrete timeline.

"Phil needs between five and a few weeks until we have him back. We will see." Klopp said on BBC Radio 5 Live, via the team's website. "He is not in for tonight (Tuesday's EFL Cup match against Leeds United) and for the next few games."

That means Coutinho will miss a number of critical matches for the second-placed Reds. Assuming Coutinho is out until the New Year, he would miss six Premier League matches. Of those matches, a Merseyside Derby on Dec. 19 and a clash against title-hopefuls Manchester City on New Year's Eve loom the largest.

In Coutinho's absence, Klopp will have to lean on Liverpool's other attacking options. Fortunately, that cupboard is well stocked with the likes of Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane, Divock Origi and others available to pick up the slack. That said, the Reds will certainly miss Coutinho's creativity and electricity in midfield.

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