Jürgen Klopp says Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has made a complete recovery from injury and can recapture his peak Liverpool form after a difficult few years.
Oxlade-Chamberlain returned to full training this week for the first time since damaging knee ligaments during a pre-season training session in August. The midfielder and the goalkeeper Alisson, who has missed Liverpool’s last three games with a hamstring strain but trained on Friday, could both be involved at Fulham on Sunday.
The England international has suffered two serious knee injuries in the past two years and, although he made an important contribution to last season’s success with 43 appearances in all competitions, was unable to re-establish himself as a consistent first choice. But Klopp is confident the 27-year-old’s injury problems are behind him, and a return to the outstanding form he showed prior to damaging an ACL against Roma in April 2018 is a realistic target.
‘Quality’
The Liverpool manager said: “In training, what Ox did so far you can see his quality immediately. Immediately. He is a difference-maker, you can see that. The speed, the technique, the combination of right foot, left foot; he can play different positions, score goals, so when he can finally play – and I don’t know whether that will be this week or next – it is a big plus for us.
“Ox is an outstanding player, an outstanding player, was always and will always be. Did he always play perfectly well? No. But he had a few really good games that helped us a lot. The longer he can stay without injury the better he will be. This time we are really confident we can do that until the end of his career.”
