Jurgen Klopp has revealed that he doesn’t know if Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will be available for Liverpool this afternoon.
Liverpool have a tricky visit to Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park and Klopp’s numbers are already depleted.
Sadio Mane, Naby Keita and Mohamed Keita are absent on Africa Cup of Nations duty, while Thiago Alcantara, Harvey Elliott and Joel Matip are ruled out through injury.
Oxlade-Chamberlain is touch and go as to whether or not he’ll be able to face the Eagles today.
The former Arsenal winger, a £40 million signing in 2017, picked up an ankle injury in the victory over Brentford last weekend, in which he scored.
And the German manager has admitted that he’s hoping and praying that the 28-year-old can make the trip to London.
He told Liverpool’s official website: “Ox, we hope and pray, he was running yesterday but we don’t know what that exactly means for today. It would be helpful if he could train before the game. I don’t know yet.”
Oxlade-Chamberlain has had horrible luck with injuries down the years.
He missed virtually all of Liverpool’s 2018-19 campaign after picking up a long-term problem in a Champions League semi-final toward the end of his first campaign at Anfield.
With Thiago and Keita absent, Klopp needs the England international now more than ever and that’s why the Liverpool coach comes across so desperate for his boy to be fit.
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