Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain played in his third consecutive match as a starter for Liverpool as they brushed aside his former club Arsenal by four goals to none on game week 12 of the Premier League 2021/22 season.
He played a decent game and also contributed to the second goal for Liverpool scored by Diogo Jota. His pressing led to a mistake by Arsenal’s Nuno Tavares which the Portuguese striker pounced on to score from. He was taken off after 76 minutes, to applause from Liverpool and Arsenal fans.
It is an unusual site to see the injury-prone midfielder grab consecutive minutes for the club but he appears to be benefitting from a packed treatment table for the Reds at the moment.
Speaking after the game, the English midfielder, who is only getting this much game time because of injuries to key players, expressed a desire to keep fighting for a starting shirt in Jurgen Klopp’s super competitive line-up.
“I want to play football, I want to play as much as I can,” Oxlade-Chamberlain told the club’s official website. “Whenever you get chances it’s up to you to put in a good performance and help the team to win – and that’s the only way you keep getting games.
“I’ve been lucky enough to get those opportunities recently, I’ve kept my head down, I’ve worked hard for them, made sure I was ready when the time came.”
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain not fazed by other title contenders
The 28-year-old was asked about how Liverpool see the challenge posed by Chelsea and Manchester City, who are both first and second on the Premier League table.
“You don’t want to focus too much on what’s going on around you, but of course you can’t be naive enough not to look at the situation and where you stand,” Oxlade-Chamberlain said to the club’s website.
“If your competitors go and get a good result, get three points, it’s then over to you to go and respond and do the same thing. I don’t know if it’s added pressure but it just makes it more real what exactly the job and the task ahead is.”
Players and fans got motivated by Klopp and Arteta clash, claims Oxlade-Chamberlain
“It was hard to not notice that,” Oxlade-Chamberlain said. “[But] our job is to keep focused on what’s happening on the pitch. The crowd picked up and benefited from that energy, maybe that was the turning point in terms of energy and atmosphere.
“I’ve been the away side at Anfield and it makes things tougher. On this side, it helps you. We stayed focused and got on with the job in hand it was a good performance and we saw the game out well.”