Kolo Toure believes that returning Liverpool team-mate Philippe Coutinho will provide the Reds with the cutting edge they need to secure Champions League qualification.

The Brazilian playmaker made an impressive start to the season before being sidelined thanks to a shoulder injury sustained in a clash with Swansea.

The Merseysiders have kept up their impressive form in his absence, but have appeared, on occasion, to miss the 21-year-old’s creativity and ingenuity in the final third.

Coutinho made his comeback as a second-half substitute in Liverpool’s weekend loss to Arsenal – their second defeat of the league campaign – and looked bright in spells.

Toure – who himself is enjoying a good start to life at Anfield – feels that the impish attacking midfielder can make the “difference” over the course of the season.

“I call him (Coutinho) my player, my best player, because I think he is amazing. He makes the difference,” Toure told The Mirror.

“This season he has been injured and when he will come back, I think he’s going to be amazing this season, definitely. In training, he is one of the hardest to mark, definitely. I call him my best player.

“Suarez is amazing, too. When you have a player like that [Coutinho], you know that you have this magic and people haven’t seen that yet and they will because he is young, definitely.

“In Suarez and Daniel Sturridge we have two of the best strikers in the world. They are amazing. I think when Coutinho came on in the second half it showed there’s not much difference between us and Arsenal.

“The season is long. We all want to be champion. This is only November. They will have a hard time as well. The season is not done yet, definitely.”

Liverpool play host to struggling Fulham next time out as they look to get their push for a top four finish back on track.

Can Philippe Coutinho push Liverpool into the top four?

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