Jurgen Klopp has confirmed that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain won’t be playing tomorrow as Liverpool take on Nottingham Forest.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference via Liverpool FC on YouTube, Klopp fielded questions on Naby Keita. Confirming that Keita isn’t yet being considered for game time, the manager also ruled out Oxlade-Chamberlain.
“Yes, It’s too early for him [Keita] tomorrow. We can’t rush it, it’s a tough injury, serious injury and now he’s back in parts of training,” said Klopp. “From Monday onwards, he’ll be involved in full team training. His pre-season starts then. Same with Ox, he was on bench last game but not ready to play, he’s 1 or 2 weeks ahead of Naby.”
As Klopp mentioned, Oxlade-Chamberlain was on the bench for Wednesday night’s win over West Ham. But judging by the German’s comments here, he was never planning to use the £35m man.
Injured midfield pair closing in on return
It’s understandable that neither Oxlade-Chamberlain nor Keita are ready to make their comebacks just yet.
Both have been out for around three months and, with their injury history’s, should be carefully managed.
If the Reds were struggling for players right now then the situation might be more urgent. But as it is, they’re plenty stocked in midfield for now, especially given the return of Curtis Jones on Wednesday night.
Instead, Liverpool can afford to be a little more patient with Ox and Naby. Keita had a similar situation last season. Having missed a lot of the beginning of the campaign, he went on to play a reasonable role.
Klopp will hope he’s still able to get a similar return of the 40 games his No.8 registered last season. Do that, and Keita could still justify being handed a contract extension.
As for Oxlade-Chamberlain, he seems far more unlikely to sign new terms. It’s something of a surprise that he’s still at the club after the way last season ended.
Whatever he does in a Liverpool shirt between now and the end of the season will surely be his final acts at Anfield.
The last time we saw him playing competitively was actually against Forest last March. Tomorrow would have been a fitting return for the 29-year-old, but one it doesn’t look like he’ll get it.
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