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Joe Gomez. Trent Alexander-Arnold. Dejan Lovren. Gini Wijnaldum. Jordan Henderson. It’s been a tough month for Liverpool on the injury front, and with four dropped points in their last two games that lengthy list of first team absences may be taking its toll.
It’s not all bad news for Jürgen Klopp’s Reds, though, as today’s release of the updated Champions League squads for the knockout rounds offers confirmation that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is nearing fitness and that the club expect him to play a role this season.
Liverpool have added Oxlade-Chamberlain and young defender Ki-Jana Hoever—who hasn’t been at the club long enough to qualify as a b-list youth player—to their Champions League squad, as the duo replace the outgoing Nathaniel Clyne and Dominic Solanke.
Clubs can name up to 25 players to their Champions League a-list squads, but to reach the full 25 at least eight of those players must be domestically trained and at least four of those homegrown players must have spent their formative years on the club’s books.
The b-list squad can then be made up of any players 21 years of age or younger who have spent at least two years at the club following their 15th birthday—meaning that while Hoever can’t be named as a b-list player, Joe Gomez is now eligible as one.
In total, Liverpool have named 31 players that they will now be able call upon in the knockout rounds of the Champions League.