Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain had his shooting boots on in training yesterday. The 28-year-old missed Liverpool’s FA Cup tie against Cardiff City on Sunday due to a positive Covid test.
But he returned to the AXA Training Centre on Tuesday. Judging by his post on Instagram last night, the midfielder was making a strong claim to start for The Reds in tomorrow’s game against Leicester.
During the video, Liverpool can be seen doing some shooting drills. A sharp looking Oxlade-Chamberlain fires four consecutive shots past Alisson. This included a belting left-footed side-footer which flashes into the top corner.
Liverpool’s number one is rooted to the spot for every single one of the strikes. To render a goalkeeper like Alisson useless not once but four times in quick succession is testament to the Ox’s ability to hit the ball hard and with accuracy.
The drill drew applause from Liverpool’s coaching staff. As ever, Pep Lijnders can be seen fully involved, urging Oxlade-Chamberlain on.
“Quality!” shouts Liverpool’s assistant manager as the England international curls another shot past Alisson.
Oxlade-Chamberlain staking his claim
It will have been frustrating for Oxlade-Chamberlain to have to sit out Sunday’s FA Cup game.
He would have likely started had he been available. Fabinho was rested in midfield, and Jurgen Klopp would have possibly been inclined to offer the same treatment to Jordan Henderson had Ox been ready to play.
Instead, it was a missed opportunity to remind the manager that he should be starting him in the weeks to come.
Harvey Elliott and Thiago’s return to action mean that competition for midfield places has never been higher. Klopp finally has a full squad available to him.
But Oxlade-Chamberlain has filled in capably when others have been missing this season. He also has two goals in his last two games. In the clip he looks focused and motivated.
Although he’s had his struggles at times in a red shirt, he has also had moments of real quality. One of those was a beautifully dinked outside-of-the-boot strike against Genk in the Champions League, a goal that led to Rio Ferdinand labelling him a “fantastic footballer” per BT Sport via The Metro.
If he wanted to make sure Klopp can’t ignore him, that’s certainly the way to go about it.
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