Jurgen Klopp has confirmed Liverpool star Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has suffered ligament damage – and is unsure how long he’ll be out of action.
The England international limped off with an ankle injury in Liverpool’s 1-0 Club World Cup final victory over Flamengo on Saturday.
Oxlade-Chamberlain was pictured wearing a protective boot and holding crutches after the match, and he’ll now miss Liverpool’s final two matches of 2019.
“The ankle is what we probably expected,” said Klopp.
“One of the ligaments on the outside is damaged and we have to see how quickly we can fix that. It can take a while or it can be quicker, we will see.”
(Image: Action Images via Reuters)
Oxlade-Chamberlain has had bad luck with injuries since arriving at Liverpool from Arsenal back in 2017.
The midfielder suffered ACL damage in Liverpool’s Champions League semi-final clash with Roma in 2018, which ruled him out for the rest of the season including the World Cup.
The injury also ruled him out of most of last season before he finally made his return in April 2019, coming off the bench in Liverpool’s 5-0 win over Huddersfield.
(Image: REUTERS)
Liverpool are back in England following their Club World Cup final win in Doha, and will be in action against Leicester City on Boxing Day.
Klopp said: “Only real thing I can say is the way to Qatar was difficult sleeping-wise.
“Way back was normal, Day off yesterday, the boys slept as much as they could. We needed days to get used to [Qatar] but now we are back and it is all good.”
