For the most part, for Liverpool fans, each international break is a chance to look on nervously, hoping against hope that none of the club’s players end up injured. Now and then, though, it can be a positive—a chance for a long-injured player to get minutes.
Such is the case with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who made his return to the England squad this week and is expected to take part for the national team for the first time in over a year and after only playing around a third of the available club minutes so far this season.
At this point in his recovery, any minutes are good minutes for Oxlade-Chamberlain. And as much as the extra playing time should be beneficial to the player, it will also be a positive for England, whose manager Gareth Southgate admitted they have “missed” him.
“We’ve been quite clear that he would have been in Starting XI for the World Cup had he been fit,” Southgate noted this week as Oxlade-Chamberlain joined up for training ahead of Euro 2020 qualifiers against Bulgaria and Kosovo—both set to be played in England.
Oxlade-Chamberlain will be joined by Joe Gomez, Trent Alexander-Arnold, and Jordan Henderson in those two games, with all four Liverpool players expected to see action over the coming week with England.