Liverpool needed their Brazilian duo Philippe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino to come from the bench and rescue a massive win in the race for top four against Stoke City on Saturday.
Reds boss Jurgen Klopp turned a few heads with his starting XI, where he played three centre-backs and Trent Alexander-Arnold and Nathanial Clyne as wing-backs, but he did so out of necessity as many first choice players were either injured or in need of a rest.
Philippe Coutinho was not expected to travel to Stoke as Klopp had ruled him out during the week due to illness, but he was named on the bench and when he was introduced, he bagged the equaliser in a man of the match display. You could be forgiven for thinking that he had not been ill at all based on his performance, but speaking to Sky Sports after the game Jurgen Klopp revealed that he was so unwell he dropped three kilograms in the days before the match.
That was the plan really, but of course you never know, Coutinho lost three kilograms in three days, maybe a few people would love to have this but it's not good for a professional football player!
Firmino after the last game had a bit of a groin problem and was a bit tired, maybe he could have started but we had to leave him out of training for three days, so it was his first session today!
It was difficult to decide, but finally everything went well so I'm happy.
A happy man indeed, Klopp also heaped praise on Simon Mignolet for keeping his side in it as he pulled off two fantastic saves in a very solid performance.
That was a big win for Liverpool, not just because it put them nine points clear of Arsenal in fifth place for the time being, but because those are the exact types of games that Liverpool have been struggling in, and after going 1-0 down it looked like another frustrating day was on the cards.
Philippe Coutinho was already the darling of Liverpool fans, but after learning of his incredible commitment to the cause he will be even more so. He also became the Premier League's highest-scoring Brazilian player ever, with 30 goals. Fair play to him.
