Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is fit and ready to make his Liverpool debut on Saturday. But will there be any room for the £35m signing in the starting XI against Manchester City?
The former Arsenal player has made no secret of his desire to establish himself as a central midfielder at Anfield, having played in a variety of roles under Arsene Wenger. But despite his hefty price tag, Oxlade-Chamberlain appears to have a battle on his hands to force his way into Liverpool's first team anywhere at all.
Premier League,Saturday 9th, 04:30am
Manchester City v Liverpool
FEATURED REQUESTABETS
Matip to score a header and De Bruyne to score from outside the area200 / 1Kompany, Fernandinho, Henderson & Lovren to be carded80 / 1Mane to score and Manchester City to miss a penalty66 / 1Jesus to score and Liverpool to miss a penalty66 / 1Aguero & Firmino to score and Otamendi & Can to be carded40 / 1Aguero to score first, BTTS and over 2.5 goals7 / 1
Reds boss Jurgen Klopp - who has led his side to four straight wins in their past four Premier League and Champions League games - has used a 4-3-3 formation so far this season, with midfield trio Georginio Wijnaldum, Jordan Henderson and Emre Can earning praise for their role in the 4-0 demolition of Arsenal last time out.
Oxlade-Chamberlain will be hard pressed to dislodge any of those players this weekend. Factor in the currently injured Adam Lallana and returning Philippe Coutinho and the scale of the challenge of breaking into this team becomes apparent.
Further up the field, Liverpool's joint-top scorer from last season Sadio Mane and summer signing Mo Salah are two of the club's most in-form players, having either scored or set up six of the team's eight Premier League goals between them so far this season.
In comparison, Oxlade-Chamberlain has never scored more than twice in a Premier League season and, prior to his seven assists in 2016/17, had laid on just seven goals in five campaigns at Arsenal.