‘Relentless’ £35m Liverpool player will fancy his chances of starting at Norwich – TBR View

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Liverpool midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain hasn’t had the rub of the green for much of his time at Anfield.

The Reds ace made just 17 appearances in 2020-21, due in part to a knee injury that kept him out in the first half of the season.

Oxlade-Chamberlain’s injury meant he missed pre-season and had to constantly battle to get to full fitness.

The 27-year-old also missed most of the 2018-19 campaign due to an cruciate ligament rupture.

However, Oxlade-Chamberlain has finally benefited from a full pre-season this time out and has looked really sharp.

Indeed, his display against Osasuna drew praise from Jurgen Klopp as well as Liverpool fans:

“Look, I know Ox for so long now it was not necessary to talk,” Jurgen Klopp told the club’s official website.

“It was clear what the thing is – he needed a full pre-season. [The same] for plenty of players.

“For Taki (Minamino), it was the first pre-season with us properly; it was the first pre-season for a long time with Ox.

“It helps for all of them who were part of all the sessions, that helps and you can then get the games.

“I think Ox played in six pre-season games, was part of it, Taki probably as well. You can see then how much it means.”

Will Klopp opt for Ox over Milner and Elliott?

Oxlade-Chamberlain will surely fancy his chances of starting Liverpool’s Premier League opener at Norwich on Saturday.

Curtis Jones is out of the game due to concussion – he came off against Osasuna after a collision.

Meanwhile, Jordan Henderson and Thiago Alcantara are still getting up to speed after coming back late from pre-season.

The Athletic claims Fabinho and Naby Keita are likely to take two of the three starting spots against the Canaries.

James Milner, Harvey Elliott and Oxlade-Chamberlain are all in contention for the final place, added the report.

As good as all three players are, the £35million signing from Arsenal has certainly done enough in pre-season to warrant a spot in the starting XI.