On Tuesday morning, Liverpool added star midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to their Champion’s League knockout stages squad.
Oxlade-Chamberlain would be a huge addition for Liverpool in the knockout rounds if the injured midfielder is able to make a comeback. Liverpool FC were able to confirm this addition with the following statement,
"Liverpool have added three players to their squad for the knockout stage of the Champions League. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ben Woodburn and Ki-Jana Hoever are now eligible to play in this season’s competition."
The English international has been sidelined with injury for about ten months after suffering a nasty knee injury against Roma in the Champion’s League ironically. It has been rumored that Ox would be ready to make a return to the team in either February or March, but given the way Klopp works injured players back into the squad, it could be longer.
The 25 year-old definitely will not feature against Bayern Munich on the 16th of February, but after that, it really could be possible. It is a great sight to see as Liverpool have missed that boost he provided in the midfield so many times last year.
His creativity, link-up play (especially with Mohamed Salah), and cannon-shot from deep would provide Jurgen Klopp’s men with a unique weapon and more depth in the latter rounds. I think we all remember his absolute screamer against Man City which sent Anfield into a craze.
“The Ox, from outside the box!”
— SI Soccer (@si_soccer) April 4, 2018
Martin Tyler nails this almost as well as Oxlade-Chamberlain does. Liverpool up 2-0 on Man City (via @FoxSoccer) pic.twitter.com/rjLPFgjsqu
Chamberlain in front of a combo of either Fabinho, Henderson, or Wijnaldum would be a beautiful trio, and perfectly balanced between offensive and defensive ability. Or picture this, a double super sub of Ox and Xherdan Shaqiri. Imagine the pace, creativity and shooting ability coming in with fresh legs late on, in a knockout round.
I don’t want the title race to be coronary inducing tight, but I’d love for the returning Oxlade Chamberlain to make the difference in the run in. What a story that’d be.
— John O'Sullivan (@NotoriousJOS) February 5, 2019
Either way, it is nice to see one of our more important players making injury progress, and his addition is definitely a good sign. Liverpool fans are quite happy about it too!