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It's been a summer of change at Anfield but there is still a South American genius at work.

Brendan Rodgers is adamant that the sale of Luis Suarez to Barcelona won’t derail Liverpool’s resurgence and Philippe Coutinho looks like a man on a mission to make his manager’s bold prediction come true.

There is undoubtedly a gaping void to be filled following the exit of last season’s 31-goal top scorer but the brilliance of Coutinho provides genuine hope that the loss of such a world class performer can be overcome.

The little Brazilian playmaker - hailed by Rodgers recently as “the brains” of this Liverpool team - admits he’s been fired up by his omission from the World Cup finals in his homeland.

Luis Felipe Scolari’s loss looks set to be the Reds’ gain with the 22-year-old going into the new campaign in the form of his life.

Borussia Dortmund simply couldn’t handle Coutinho as his quick feet and devastating eye for a pass helped ensure Liverpool finished their pre-season schedule in style with an emphatic demolition of the Bundesliga outfit.

Coutinho, who scored the third and played a big part in two other goals, departed to a standing ovation late on after the classy No 10 had flourished in a central role behind Daniel Sturridge.

The £8.5million the Reds paid Inter Milan for his services 18 months ago already looks like one of the best pieces of business in Anfield history.

Coutinho will never be as prolific as Suarez but he’s a dazzling creative force and has that rare ability to produce something out of nothing.

He belongs on the biggest of stages and Liverpool’s return to the Champions League this season will give him that platform to perform.

Rodgers has insisted all summer that the Reds’ style wouldn’t change and this final friendly showcased the fact that even without Suarez, Liverpool’s box office appeal remains.

The manager’s commitment to free-flowing attacking football is unwavering and some of the link up play between Coutinho, Sturridge and Raheem Sterling was sublime.

Their pace, trickery and intelligent movement left a depleted Dortmund side missing their Germany internationals chasing shadows.

Liverpool will be hard pressed to get close to last season’s tally of 101 Premier League goals this term but they won’t need to if they tighten up at the other end.

Dealing with the defensive frailties which ultimately proved so costly in last season’s title race has been a priority for Rodgers this summer.

His £90million shopping spree has included deals for centre-back Dejan Lovren and right-back Javier Manquillo, who both enjoyed highly promising debuts against Jurgen Klopp’s Dortmund.

Rodgers firmly believes that Lovren is the natural leader and organiser his backline has been lacking since Jamie Carragher’s retirement.

The Croatian international showed why Liverpool decided he was worth the £20million price tag as he shone in both penalty boxes.

Having got the winner for Southampton at the Anfield Road End on his last appearance in L4, Lovren struck in similar fashion inside 14 minutes of his home bow.

Lovren escaped the attentions of Marcel Schmelzer to nod home Steven Gerrard’s corner.

His aerial prowess was also evident at the other end as he read danger and snuffed out the threat of new Dortmund frontmen Adrian Ramos and Ciro Immobile. Lovren’s header made it 2-0 after he had played a big part in the opening goal four minutes earlier.

His pin-point pass was met with a breathtaking flick from Coutinho which sent Sturridge scampering clear. The Reds striker was clinical with his finish as he gave Mitchell Langerak no chance.

Sturridge, who got through 76 minutes, eased any lingering concerns over his fitness after the hamstring injury which forced him to return home early from the tour of America.

The England international looked sharp and hungry to impress and he will clearly relish being the focal point of the Reds’ attack following Suarez’s departure.

But the fact remains that in order to compete on all fronts this season Liverpool need to snap up another striking option before the window shuts, regardless of whether Fabio Borini stays or goes.

The Reds’ dominance was such that they should have been further clear before the interval.

Sterling’s strike was deflected behind after another defence-splitting through ball from Coutinho and then Steven Gerrard’s curling 25-yard free-kick was tipped over.

Just three minutes into the second half Liverpool were 3-0 up. Sterling, who lit up the club’s tour of America, was outstanding once again. The teenager pounced on Matthias Ginter’s error and intelligently picked out Coutinho.

The only criticism of the Brazilian’s game has been his lack of end product but this time he made no mistake as he drilled past Langerak from a tight angle.

Manquillo, who like Lovren had only trained with his new team-mates for two days, enjoyed a fine first outing at right-back.

The 20-year-old Spaniard showed no sign of nerves following his loan switch from Atletico Madrid.

He was strong in the tackle and expertly shackled Henrikh Mkhitaryan as the Armenian, who opted to sign for Dortmund rather than Liverpool when he left Shakhtar Donetsk last summer, failed to show Rodgers what he’s missing.

Manquillo, who has been handed the No 19 shirt, also made a contributiongoing forward as he combined well with the tireless Jordan Henderson, whocompleted the scoring just past the hour mark.

Once again Sterling and Coutinho were heavily involved as Dortmund were carved open.

Coutinho’s cross just eluded Sturridge but he raced to keep the ball in play and got away from Schmelzer before handing Henderson a tap-in.

A raft of substitutions meant the contest petered out but Rickie Lambert was granted a warm reception as he graced Anfield with the liver bird on his shirt for the first time.

By then Ronald Koeman, watching on from the directors box, had seen enough.

The Southampton boss will have departed knowing that Liverpool are primed and ready for battle when the serious stuff kicks off next Sunday.

On the weekend when the nation was hit by the remains of Hurricane Bertha Liverpool sent out a warning of their own. Even without Suarez, they will take some stopping.

Liverpool: Mignolet, Manquillo (Kelly 85), Skrtel, Lovren, Johnson (Enrique 62), Gerrard, Can (Lucas 46), Henderson (Allen 79), Coutinho (Ibe 72), Sterling, Sturridge (Lambert 76).

Borussia Dortmund: Langerak, Piszczek (Grosskreutz 58), Sokratis (Sarr 81), Ginter, Schmelzer (Knystock 81), Kehl (Hofmann 46), Kirch (Bender 46), Mkhitaryan (Ji 64), Aubameyang, Jojic (Amini 77), Ramos (Immobile 46)

Referee: Martin Atkinson

Attendance: 43,980

Goals: Sturridge 10, Lovren 14, Coutinho 48, Henderson 61