Philippe Coutinho's first start of the season was unable to inspire Liverpool to victory over Burnley at Anfield on Saturday , but it was possible to see just where he'll fit back in the Reds side now he's fully reintegrated.

Although dominant for large periods of the game, Liverpool only had a Mohamed Salah goal to show for their afternoon, having fallen behind to Scott Arfield's strike.

With Sadio Mane out suspended, Reds boss Jurgen Klopp resisted the temptation to put the Brazilian into the front three - where he played most of his football last season - and instead picked him in midfield with Emre Can and James Milner.

It was in that deeper role that Coutinho shone at the back end of last season, and where it looks like his Liverpool future lies.

Coutinho looked to run at Burnley from deep (
Image:
Getty)

Plenty claimed that the reason Barcelona wanted to sign him in the summer was as a replacement for Neymar, but he's clearly going to be a very different player for Liverpool this season.

And one look at the Brazilian's heat and touch maps from the game - provided for us by Opta - show just why.

Coutinho's touch map from the game showed how much he was involved between the lines

The touch map - above - details how Coutinho got on the ball a lot deeper than he often did last season, and also a lot more centrally.

Looking to run at the Clarets from deep, Coutinho was a focal point for his side, and according to the Daily Mirror's Merseyside football reporter David Maddock he was "mesmeric in his dribbling, and seemingly beat the entire Burnley team about eight times."

The touch map also shows Coutinho's influence

His touch map also bears this out, and Klopp can only wonder just what the Barcelona target could have created if his influence centrally was backed up by more pace ahead of him, with Mane unavailable and Daniel Sturridge struggling.

The German will know that getting Coutinho, Mane, Salah and Roberto Firmino on the pitch at the same time will be crucial for his suddenly stuttering side, with a midfield workhorse such as Can or Gini Wijnaldum needing to be sacrificed if the Reds are to get going again.

Have a look at all the Liverpool players' heatmaps against Burnley here:

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