Aston Villa’s marquee January signing Philippe Coutinho could be properly unleashed by Steven Gerrard for next week’s clash with Leeds United.
Coutinho made the move to Villa Park from Barcelona last month and has now been at the club for almost a month.
The 29-year-old arrived in the West Midlands lacking match sharpness after a limited amount of game time at Barcelona this season but will now be close to his maximum thanks to the number of minutes he has played in recent weeks.
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He played 22 minutes on his debut against Manchester United, where he instantly showed his quality by playing a huge role in Villa’s 2-2 comeback draw.
Coutinho was a major factor in Jacob Ramsey’s goal, before he then got on the scoresheet himself to earn a memorable point for Gerrard’s men.
However, his lack of sharpness was perhaps highlighted in his second outing for Villa, as he was largely ineffective during their 1-0 win over Everton.
Having said that, Coutinho was still able to get another 74 minutes of football under his belt, which allowed him to hit the ground running on international duty with Brazil.
Due to Emerson Royal’s first half red card against Ecuador in the Seleção’s first game, he was substituted after 33 minutes, but in the second match against Paraguay he really came to life.
Coutinho scored one of his trademark long-range top corner goals in a 4-0 win, which he became renowned for during the best years of his career at Liverpool.
Leeds will need to ensure they do not afford him the time and space in that area of the field on Wednesday if they are to come away from Villa Park with all three points.
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