Philippe Coutinho Confirms '100% Fitness' for England Friendly After Missing 3 Liverpool Games

Philippe Coutinho has given Liverpool a big boost while on international duty with Brazil, declaring himself '100% fit' ahead of Tuesday night's friendly against England. 

The 25-year-old has missed the Reds' last three games with yet another niggling injury, keeping him from finding a real rhythm since a summer filled with distracting transfer speculation, but the Liverpool Echo report that the playmaker has spoken positively about his fitness.

“Unfortunately, I could not play for Liverpool in the past three games because of injury," he said ahead of the fixture at Wembley. "Now I feel 100% fit, I have recovered and I am in a good shape to be available for the game against England. I never want to miss any Brazil games. I am honoured to wear this shirt whenever I can.

“England will be our first European opponent under Tite. We are looking forward to battling with them. They have a lot of quality players who operate in a top league like the Premier League. It will no doubt be a difficult encounter.”

Coutinho has played just five of the Reds' 11 Premier League games this season, with all of his goals coming in a four-week spell between late September and mid October. Jurgen Klopp's side host Southampton in the Premier League on Saturday, before a key Champions League trip to Sevilla in midweek.

“Every day," Coutinho added, "I work harder than before to improve myself and become a better all-around footballer. Thanks to football, I live in England today. Thanks to football, I am able to feed my family. Football has been very generous for me.”