Coutinho should return to league action for the Reds today
Venue: Villa Park
Kick-off: 14:05
The Reds will go to Villa Park this afternoon looking to turn around recent results, which have seen Klopp’s team win just once in the last five games.
The defeat to West Ham mid-week was a huge disappointment and the German manager will no doubt be glad that so few of his first team featured in the 120+ minutes. He’ll also no doubt be glad to have the talents of Daniel Sturridge, Phillipe Coutinho and Divock Origi back – all of whom returned in action on Tuesday night.
All three could potentially feature at some point, but Coutinho and Sturridge are more likely to start, as Liverpool look to take advantage of Villa’s current position.
That said, Villa are currently going through one of the club’s better runs of the season, which has seen them pick up 8 points from the club’s last 5 Premier League games, most recently taking all 3 points at home to Norwich.
The Midlands side have no real injury concerns, with just Rudi Gestede, Carlos Sanchez doubts for the game. Remi Garde will no doubt want to change very little of the side that has started to pick up in recent weeks though, so expect few changes.
As for Klopp, the question will be raised as to whether the youngster’s good form in cup games this season has finally warranted giving some of them a shot in the league. Particularly when the terrible form of many first-teamers is taken in to account.
How Liverpool get on at Villa Park could well come down to what team Klopp selects. But provided that team has some combination of Coutinho and Sturridge, we’ll surely see a much more confident and clinical display.
