Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has been in sensational form in recent weeks for Liverpool and his goalscoring exploits could, and should, be enough to see him start in the game against Manchester City at Anfield on Sunday.
The 26-year-old made it four goals in six starts for Jurgen Klopp’s side on Tuesday night, scoring the winner against Genk to all but secure Liverpool’s progression from Group E. It was another superb finish from the former Arsenal man, as he spun in the box and fired in a powerful left-footed effort past the Genk goalkeeper.
Oxlade-Chamberlain, who signed for £35 million in August 2017, is starting to find his feet in a Liverpool shirt after a cruciate ligament injury suffered last season severely disrupted the Englishman’s progress. He has returned from that injury in scintillating form, however, and not many Liverpool fans would deny his right to start in their potential Premier League title-deciding game at Anfield this weekend.
Liverpool are currently leading the way at the top of the Premier League and have the opportunity to go nine points clear against Pep Guardiola’s side this weekend. Klopp’s side remains unbeaten, having drawn just once, whereas City have surprisingly lost twice against Norwich and Wolves which sees them lagging behind the Reds at this point in the season. It was City who ended Liverpool’s unbeaten run last season however, in a 2-1 victory at the Etihad, so Klopp’s side will have to be at their best if they are going to take maximum points from the Citizens.
In order for the Reds to give themselves the best chance of securing a results, Oxlade-Chamberlain needs to start in midfield, probably alongside Fabinho and one of Jordan Henderson or Georginio Wijnaldum.
Indeed, the 26-year-old has averaged an impressive 6.93 rating despite a lot of his appearances coming from the bench, and has four goals in his last four games in all competitions. The Southampton academy graduate also has history against Guardiola’s side; scoring a screamer when the two sides met at Anfield in 2018.
In comparison to fellow central midfielders, he’s scored the most amount of goals in the Premier League and Champions League combined with a total of four, with Wijnaldum in second position with two. Also, he has the third highest pass success rate in the Premier League for Liverpool this season with 89.4%, which puts him ahead of the likes of Fabinho and Jordan Henderson, as well as the most amount of dribbles per game out of the midfield three.
Manchester City are a team who like to hold onto position with a an average of 73.7% this season in the Premier League, so Liverpool should certainly think about deploying Oxlade-Chamberlain in the middle of midfield to provide plenty of energy and to implement the high press. Also, his dribbling ability and high pass percentage will be needed against a Manchester City side that clearly hold the ball for long periods, as well as his through ball ability which could help release the likes of Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane in behind City’s defence.
Of course, some of the stats certainly stack up in Oxlade-Chamberlain’s favour and his recent form perhaps suggests he should be in with a chance of starting, but the end decision is up to Jurgen Klopp.