FOOTBALL: Liverpool Concluded Their Pre-Season Games In South-East Asia

Liverpool Concluded Their Pre-Season Games In South-East Asia. Amid the sweltering heat and stuffy humidity, goals from Jordan Henderson and Mohamed Salah sealed what was a by-the-numbers victory for Jürgen Klopp’s men.

Ultimately, the result doesn’t really matter, but what does matter is players getting minutes into their legs and getting match fitness back.

Klopp made a host of changes at half-time, effectively playing with two different sides. But one change he had to make sooner than he would have liked was to £35m man Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who was forced to come off three minutes before the end of the first half.

Oxlade-Chamberlain started the game and produced moments of quality, but went down clutching his hamstring near the end of the first 45 minutes. He couldn’t continue and was instantly subbed out.

Liverpool Concluded Their Pre-Season Games In South-East Asia. After the game, Klopp gave an update on his situation. “Of course it’s very disappointing for us because Oxlade trained all the time really well since the pre-season started,” he said.

“It happened obviously with Ox in the past when it gets more intense and something can happen. Now, this is just a muscle thing and that’s OK. We had worse situations, so I’m OK with it.

“I don’t know exactly how long it will take but he will be back and then it’s all fine. He is obviously a top-class player and he can help us.”

Oxlade-Chamberlain will hope that the hamstring injury isn’t anything too serious, as his future at the club already looked uncertain. Moreover, it remains to be seen how much playing time he will get at Liverpool next season; should he be injured and miss the rest of pre-season, then those already scant minutes could be diminished even further.

And he isn’t the only one, either. Diogo Jota’s pre-season training is also over, by all accounts. The Portuguese forward, signed for an initial £41m two years ago, suffered a setback during training in Asia after suffering s reoccurrence of the hamstring injury he picked up while playing for his country in the UEFA Nations League in June.

Klopp has confirmed post-Crystal Palace that Jota won’t be back in time to face Manchester City in the Community Shield.

Jota, like Oxlade-Chamberlain, is also fighting for his place in the first team, having been dropped towards the back end of last season by Klopp. With the signings of Luis Díaz, Darwin Núñez and the return of Harvey Elliott, places in the starting XI are now at a premium.

Any prolonged period of time out of the first team will go against Jota, with competition high. This setback is the last thing the former Wolves man needs.

Klopp will be happy with how the club’s jaunt to Asia has gone. Players got minutes under their belts; Liverpool played in two packed-out stadiums to adoring fans. But he won’t be happy with the injuries to Jota and Oxlade-Chamberlain.

On the plus side, it’s undoubtedly better to get them now than during the season.

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