Tuesday 29 November 2016 22:56, UK
Jurgen Klopp has confirmed Liverpool will be without Philippe Coutinho for around five weeks with an ankle injury.
The Brazilian schemer, who has been in a rich vein of form, underwent a scan on Monday afternoon on the injury he sustained against Sunderland and is now set to be sidelined until the New Year.
Klopp, speaking ahead of the Sky Live EFL Cup tie against Leeds United, told the club website: "Phil needs between five and a few weeks until we have him back. We will see. He is not in for tonight and for the next few games."
Coutinho is set to miss a busy December schedule that includes Premier League fixtures against Bournemouth, West Ham, Middlebrough and Stoke, as well as high-profile clashes with Manchester City and Merseyside rivals Everton.
Regarding his starting line-up for the game, which featured eight changes, Klopp added: "Roberto Firmino couldn't play.
"The same with Joel Matip and a few other players had all the games until now - we can bring in fresh legs, especially in defence.
"In attack, we have not that number of options anymore but I'm fine with the options we have. So we start with this line-up, we have a strong bench and we want to go to the semis."
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