Liverpool optimistic Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain ankle injury not serious

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Liverpool midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will miss Thursday’s Carabao Cup semi-final second leg against Arsenal but his ankle injury is not serious, assistant manager Pepijn Lijnders has said.

The 28-year-old was forced off in the second half of Saturday’s 3-0 Premier League victory over Brentford at Anfield, soon after scoring the Reds’ second goal.

The problem rules him out of this week’s return to his former club Arsenal, but the club are hopeful he could be back in action for this weekend’s trip to Crystal Palace.

Lijnders told the club’s website, www.liverpoolfc.com: “I spoke yesterday with him and he thinks it’s not that bad. We have to assess it day by day. I would not rule out the weekend, but for sure not tomorrow.”

Lijnders has no complaints over recent Covid-19 postponements both in the Premier League and the Carabao Cup as he said it was important to trust club medical departments.

Thursday’s Carabao Cup semi-final second leg against Arsenal should have been played two weeks ago but was delayed due to Covid cases within the Liverpool camp, while Arsenal’s successful application to have Sunday’s North London derby postponed brought an angry reaction from Tottenham.

Several managers have complained about a lack of consistency, with injuries and players being away on international duty also being taken into consideration when making a decision.

“We had our own experience about this,” said Lijnders, who himself tested positive earlier this month during the outbreak at Liverpool. “It’s really difficult to judge from outside. We saw this with our own situation.”