LIVERPOOL WILL TURN TO SPANIARD AFTER COUTINHO BLOW

LIVERPOOL WILL TURN TO SPANIARD AFTER COUTINHO BLOW

With the news that Liverpool's Brazilian playmaker Philippe Coutinho will be out for six matches after coming off against Swansea clutching his shoulder, Brendan Rodgers can turn to another summer signing.

After seeing off both Stoke and Manchester United on Merseyside in the Premier League with 1-0 wins so far, it's no surprise to see Liverpool's price for a victory over Southampton is as short as 4/9.

There is no hiding the fact this period of enforced absence for Coutinho will come as a blow to the table-topping Reds, though, where one door closes another inevitably opens.


Signed from Seville in the summer for a fee of £6.8m, Luis Alberto has only tasted around six minutes of Premier League action so far, coming off the bench in the closing stages of the 1-0 win over Manchester United during Liverpool's last home game.

Alberto did get a start in the Capital One Cup though and looked pretty assured in the advanced midfield role which Coutinho was occupying against Swansea until limping off.

The Spain U21 player is a versatile forward who can move across the front line, but showed an eye for an assist and a goal while on loan at Barcelona B last season, finishing the season with 11 goals to his name – albeit in Spain's second division.

Although he is slender in build, he's technically gifted, and considering the sizeable outlay Liverpool have made to bring him in, then it makes sense that he be given a run-out in the Premier League.

The visit of a team from the lower half of the table is just the sort of occasion where a player like this can make his mark on the big stage and thrust himself into his manager's thoughts.