Jürgen Klopp is confident he will have Philippe Coutinho available for Wednesday's Capital One Cup quarter final at Southampton.

The Brazilian was absent for the second successive game as he missed their 1-0 win over Swansea City after sustaining a hamstring injury in their victory at Manchester City a week earlier.

James Milner's second-half penalty was enough to give Liverpool their first back-to-back Premier League wins under Klopp, whilst the three points also marked their first at Anfield since he took charge.

Despite the positives, they desperately missed Coutinho's spark and creativity throughout - creating few clear opportunities as the home side struggled for inspiration in the final third.

But the German is hopeful of having the Reds' No.10 available as their busy fixture schedule continues, pitting them away at the Saints in the last eight of the League Cup - which they have won more than any other English club.

Coutinho will be back for quarter final says Reds boss 

Speaking on the topic of their trip to the South Coast in the aftermath of their defeat of Swansea, Klopp replied: "I think so, yes" when asked whether Coutinho would be in the squad.

He revealed to reporters that the Brazilian playmaker had a "very intensive" training session on Saturday but did not feature against the Swans because they had decided "two or three days ago" that they didn't want to risk him.

Klopp added that he believes Coutinho is now fit, saying he "looks good" after seeing him in the dressing room earlier in the day - but said that he will speak to Coutinho personally on Monday to discuss whether he's "ready" for the quarter-final.

Klopp's squad against Ronald Koeman's Southampton will be further by the availability of defensive midfielder Lucas Leiva, served a one-match suspension on Sunday after accumulating five yellow cards.

Daniel Sturridge and Jordan Henderson, who both came off the bench to play their first minutes under the new boss against Swansea, are also likely to travel to St Mary's.

VAVEL Logo
About the author
Charlie Malam
Digital Sports Writer at the Daily Express. First-class Staffordshire University Sports Journalism graduate. Formerly VAVEL UK's Liverpool FC editor and Deputy Editor-in-Chief. Contributor since June 2014.