Injury Update: Ligament Fear for Coutinho Ahead of Scan

Although Philippe Coutinho is scheduled to undergo a scan today to confirm, reports do indicate that there does appear to be ankle ligament damage despite early signs that the Liverpool talisman had survived his collision with Didier N’Dong in the Reds 2-0 win over Sunderland at the weekend no worse for wear.

Tentative estimations pending the results of the scan have him returning in early January, missing the crucial Christmas period, but before—Liverpool fans will hope—new boy Sadio Mané leaves to represent Senegal in the African Cup of Nations part way through the month.

The Brazilian, whose five goals and six assists have made him central part of Liverpool’s scintillating form so far this season, posted a message on Instagram thanking fans for the outpouring of support following his withdrawal Saturday.

Fingers crossed that all is well.

Thankfully, Roberto Firmino the other highly-influential Brazilian in the squad, is deemed to not require a scan after going down hard under a heavy tackle from the Black Cat’s Lamine Kone towards the end of match, saving Jürgen Klopp what would’ve been a major double blow.

Elsewhere, Daniel Sturridge has not been approved to resume training after a calf issue caused him to be a late scratch for the Sunderland match. There are no indications that he will be involved in the Tuesday EFL Cup quarter final clash with Leeds United and his return remains unscheduled as of yet. Meanwhile Adam Lallana continues on the road to recovery from a niggling groin injury that has kept him out of the last two matches and it is reported that he is targeting the league fixture against Bournemouth this upcoming weekend.

While injuries are to be expected over the course of a grueling campaign in the English league and the timing this most recent rash is less than fortuitous, a veritable match-winning performance from the likes of Divock Origi and the ability of Emre Can and Georginio Wijnaldum to step into the gap should give fans confidence in the depth of this year’s squad. Where the wheels would’ve begun to fall off in previous campaigns, the strength of this Liverpool team as a unit gives hope that this too shall pass.