The ankle injury of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain on Sunday might be worse than feared, as there are chances he could have suffered a fracture.
The 28-year-old hobbled off with an ankle injury in Liverpool’s 3-0 Premier League win against Brentford on Sunday.
Oxlade-Chamberlain has already missed Liverpool’s EFL Cup clash against Arsenal yesterday. But the Reds Assistant coach Lijnders claims he is hopeful of Chamberlain’s return for Sunday’s visit to Crystal Palace.
But injury expert Ben Dinnery made a contrasting remark on Liverpool’s No. 15’s injury.
Ben Dinnery runs the Premier Injuries site and has a background in medicine and data analysis. He claims the 28-year-old is facing an extended spell on the sidelines also warning that imaging is not always foolproof.
Ben told Football Insider‘s, Adam Williams :
Imaging is never 100 per cent,
It could come back inconclusive. You can’t rule out a second imaging later in the week if there’s a lot of swelling around the joint.
That might just make a definitive diagnosis a little bit difficult, although the club will have a fairly good idea what’s going on.“If it’s just a minor sprain, you can’t rule out him playing within seven to 14 days. After the winter break, you’d expect to see him return.
If it’s more severe damage, you’re going to extend that timeline. There is a possibility that you can pull a little bit of bone off, that’s an avulsion fracture.
That would have a significant impact, but there isn’t anything to suggest that at this period of time.
Ultimately, I’d be very surprised if he wasn’t back after the winter break.
With Salah, Mane, and Keita’s absence, there was anticipation that Ox to be one of the main men and to be a regular starter for Liverpool. But now the versatile midfielder’s injury is the last thing Klopp wanted.
Will Oxlade-Chamberlain injury lead to any changes in Klopp’s system?
After Sunday’s triumph against Brentford, speaking to liverpoolfc.com Klopp described Ox’s injury, as “a shadow on the game”.
Klopp now only has Firmino, Jota, and Minamino with only options upfront. Divock Origi is yet to recover from his knee injury but youngster Kaide Gordon can be thrust into the attack.
Moreover, when this trio played together against Arsenal last week they failed to impress.
Now there is a mammoth task for Klopp to find the right balance until the African trio is back from AFCON duty. So is this the time for Klopp to change his system?
It will be intriguing to see if the German technician changes his system. In the 4-4-2 system, Klopp can opt for the front two of Roberto Firmino and Diogo Jota. Or else, Klopp could also bring in 4-2-3-1 with Jota upfront as the Portugal International has thrived this season when placed down the middle.
Oxlade-Chamberlain’s injury increases Klopp’s headache. And as always, the month of January has again proved to be a challenging month for Liverpool, denting silverware aspirations again.
