Cross Your Fingers: Oxlade-Chamberlain On Course For Early Return

Fans let out a collective wince when they heard that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was going to be out for a huge spell with a knee injury. After the former Arsenal man had such a huge impact on Klopp’s excellent team last season, learning they would be without him this season was a huge blow.

And while Liverpool are sitting on top of the Premier League table, having only lost one game so far this season, there’s still a feeling of what-could-have-been with Oxlade-Chamberlain. What could Liverpool’s midfield look like with him in alongside Shaqiri and Henderson and Wijnaldum and Milner and Keïta?

It looks like, cross your fingers, that we might get to find out in the not-so-distant future. While Liverpool haven’t confirmed anything, Oxlade-Chamberlain traveled to Dubai with the team for warm weather training, and the ECHO is reporting that he could return to full training as early as mid-to-late February. That would put him on track for a March return to full fitness.

This means that potentially we could see Oxlade-Chamberlain contribute in the final push at the end of the season. There’s even a long-shot chance that he could be available for the return leg of the Round of 16 against Bayern Munich on March 13th.

This is obviously incredible news, because everyone wants to see Oxlade-Chamberlain back, but it also gives Klopp something new in the midfield, and a chance to rest some overworked players as the season winds down as well. That could be crucial if there’s still a title run happening by that point.