Will Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain get the call to arms against Manchester United… or will Jurgen Klopp prove he’s not really wanted at Liverpool?
With Sadio Mane out, German manager HAS to turn to England man
OF all the stars on show at Anfield on Saturday, will there be more at stake for any of them than Alex Oxlade-Chamblerlain?
Liverpool 'welcome' Manchester United to Merseyside knowing they can ill afford another slip, or they will be ten points behind their hated rivals already.
The fact they must face them without the crocked Sadio Mane, never mind a defence whose one clean sheet has been against Crystal Palace, spells out the size of the task.
And it is that injury to Mane – missing for up to six weeks with a hamstring damaged on Senegal duty – which turns the spotlight squarely onto The Ox.
Already the whispers have started, plenty amongst Liverpool fans themselves, as to whether he is up to the job.
Jurgen Klopp clearly felt he was worth the £35million it cost to bring him from Arsenal after Liverpool had stuffed them 4-0, but not too many on the Kop agree right now.
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The stats suggest even Klopp himself has so far been anything but convinced either.
Since heading north, Oxlade-Chamblerlain has started just one game – the League Cup defeat at Leicester.
His other five appearances total 74 minutes off the bench, no goals and no real hint of one either. In fact not much of anything to write home about in truth.
Which is how we are nearing such a vital time for the England winger, midfielder, or whatever he views himself as.
With Mane out, this is surely the time when Oxlade-Chamberlain gets the call to arms.
The time to show he can be the hero riding into town on a white horse to save the club on the verge of not exactly a crisis, but certainly at a pivotal stage of its season.
That alone brings an added pressure to a player who has everything to prove to a cynical public. Yet the other scenario is even worse.
Imagine if Klopp does NOT turn to The Ox.
Imagine if he opts to leave him on the bench again during Mane’s absence, starting with the United showdown.
What message would that send to him? That maybe he wasn’t Klopp’s buy after all? That maybe he isn’t the player the Liverpool chief thought he was?
Clashes between these two are never short of sub-plots and side issues.
Few could ultimately prove as crucial to a career in either camp than this one.
