Coutinho facing brutal Brazil World Cup axe as Firmino could replace him

Philippe Coutinho is set to be axed from Brazil's squad for the World Cup next month due to his poor form for Aston Villa.

Coutinho is without a goal or assist from 12 appearances in all competitions this season. The 30-year-old attacking midfielder was brought to Villa by his former Liverpool teammate Steven Gerrard, who has now been replaced by Unai Emery as manager following a sluggish start to the campaign.

The playmaker joined in January on an initial six-month loan spell and chipped in with five goals and three assists in 19 Premier League games. Villa then paid £17.2million to sign him permanently on a four-year contract, but the decision has not paid off yet, with Coutinho's performances worrying.

And now it seems as though his form could prevent him from going to the World Cup in Qatar next month. Sport says that Brazil boss Tite is likely to select in-form Flamengo star Everton Ribeiro ahead of Coutinho when he names his squad on November 7.

The report also suggests that Roberto Firmino could fill Coutinho's role for the national team, given he has eight goals and four assists in 15 games for Liverpool and is more than capable of playing in a more withdrawn position, behind Gabriel Jesus or Richarlison. Coutinho has 21 goals and 11 assists in 69 appearances for Brazil, and featured in four qualifying games earlier this year, but hasn't played since coming off the bench to score in a 5-1 friendly win over South Korea on June 2.

Even if he does make the squad, Coutinho has little chance of getting on the pitch. Tite has a wealth of attacking talent to choose from, with Neymar, Raphinha, Vinicius Jr and Lucas Paqueta all vying for places in the starting line-up. Brazil are Fifa's No1-ranked side going into the competition and will be one of the heavy favourites to win the competition.

Coutinho has faced lots of criticism since Gerrard was sacked last week. Villa's record Premier League goalscorer Gabby Agbonlahor believes that Coutinho owes Gerrard an apology for his performances. "Coutinho was his man and he didn't perform for him," he told talkSPORT. "Coutinho owes Gerrard an apology, for me, for the way he performed. Gerrard backed him."

Jamie Carragher made a similar point last month. "Obviously it hasn't gone well for him but you would think, if he could reignite the ability we saw in a Liverpool shirt or a Brazil shirt, it could be really special," Carragher told Sky Sports News. "He was the one attacking player he brought to Aston Villa and that was the big problem for the team, they didn't score enough goals.

"He was Stevie's man and he didn't produce. The Premier League for him now is just a bit too quick and too powerful, it certainly wasn't the same Philippe Coutinho we saw three or four years ago."

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