Lovren thrilled with contribution of Liverpool’s South American trio

Liverpool defender Dejan Lovren admits the club’s three Brazilian imports are making the difference at Anfield at the moment.

Philippe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino recovered from a 12,000-mile round trip after helping their national team beat Paraguay in Sao Paulo to start in the 3-1 victory over Everton on Saturday, while veteran midfielder Lucas Leiva was recalled to take the place of the injured Adam Lallana.

Firmino set up Sadio Mane’s opener before Coutinho both got himself on the scoresheet and teed up Divock Origi to seal the win, while defensively Lucas was the best player on the pitch winning the most tackles (nine) during the match.

And Lovren, 27, tipped his cap to the trio.

“It was good to see,” he said. “Philippe and Roberto had a long, long flight back from Brazil.

“They didn’t really even train with us – just a little session. They are such quality players they don’t even need to train with us!

“I have to say that Lucas was also brilliant. He was playing like he’s played 38 games already in a row this season.

“He was amazing. I was so happy about him and I think everyone felt the same.”

Mane limped off during the second half of the derby win over Ronald Koeman’s charges, the only sour note of an otherwise perfect afternoon for Reds manager Jurgen Klopp.

And Lovren hopes that does not prove costly towards the business end of the season.

He added: “If we hadn’t had injuries I’d say we could be around the same place as Chelsea. I don’t think Chelsea have even had one injury. Sometimes you need to be lucky.

“We played against Everton without Henderson and Lallana, who are massive players for us.

“There are a lot of points still to play for. We are in that top four and that’s where we want to be come the end of the season.”