■ League Cup: Southampton v Liverpool, Wednesay, 11.45pm
It was November 26 when Liverpool supporters last spied by their creative talisman.
Philippe Coutinho was in tears as he departed Anfield on a stretcher, his ankle hurt in a seemingly innocuous challenge with Sunderland’s Didier Ndong. The initial worry was that Coutinho was out for much of the season. The optimistic diagnosis from Liverpool was that he may feature on New Year’s Eve against Manchester City.
Eleven days behind schedule, but far sooner than many first feared, Coutinho is set to make his comeback on Wednesday, probably as a substitute, and may return to the starting 11 against Manchester United on Sunday.
It is a timely return, and not merely because Sadio Mane has gone to the African Cup of Nations. Liverpool have a semi-final and what is arguably still the biggest game in English football this week. Coutinho is their resident big-game player. It is no coincidence he has scored more times against Manchester City than anyone else.
It all suggests that, even in a cameo role, he is primed to illuminate Wednesday’s first leg at St Mary’s.
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Coutinho's excellence has prompted reported interest from Barcelona, with Jurgen Klopp politely inviting them to forget about him and citing Liverpool's determination to keep a man who turns 25 on Thursday.
Yet if any fixture illustrates the allure of bigger clubs, it is this. Southampton almost seemed Liverpool’s feeder club when five players swapped St Mary’s for Anfield in three summers. One, Rickie Lambert, disappointed and departed. Another, Mane, is denied a return to his former club by international duty.
The other three — Adam Lallana, Dejan Lovren and Nathaniel Clyne — have become automatic choices for Klopp while funding the arrivals of much of this Southampton side. None really excelled for Liverpool before the German’s appointment, which ties into a broader theme.
The Southampton players who have joined Manchester United, in Luke Shaw and Morgan Schneiderlin, and Arsenal, in Calum Chambers, since 2014 have failed to replicate their displays from St Mary’s. Only Victor Wanyama, the colossus in the Tottenham midfield, and four of the Liverpool five have discovered the grass truly is greener elsewhere.
Now the latest to explore that theory could be Jose Fonte. The Southampton captain has submitted a transfer request. A slowburner of a career peaked when he won Euro 2016. Now he is eyeing his last chance of a move to a major club. He has been a pillar of Southampton’s rise, rendering a row sadder, and it feels as though he has been mismanaged, but Claude Puel may not pick him again until the transfer window closes.
Fonte’s absence against Liverpool will complete an unwanted hat-trick. He was omitted for Saturday’s FA Cup tie at Norwich. Much to his annoyance, he did not play a single minute of their disappointing Europa League campaign. Now he sits out their first League Cup semi-final for 30 years. Then, in an omen that favours Klopp’s side, Liverpool drew 0-0 in Hampshire before winning 3-0 at Anfield.
They already have a 0-0 result at St Mary’s this season, a lull after twin storms. Their two visits last season produced a 6-1 Liverpool win after Southampton struck first and a 3-2 victory for a Mane-inspired Southampton, who had been 2-0 down.
Coutinho scored in that 3-2 defeat. It is a reason Liverpool will be glad to see him back. One of many.
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