Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to miss Community Shield due to knee issue

| 21 August 2020

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to miss Community Shield due to knee issue

Jurgen Klopp admits he is unsure when the 27-year-old will be ready for action.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will miss the Community Shield after Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp revealed the midfielder suffered a knee injury in training.

The Premier League champions are currently on a pre-season training camp in Austria and will face Stuttgart on Saturday before a game against Red Bull Salzburg on Tuesday.

But Oxlade-Chamberlain has returned home after the incident, with Klopp admitting he is unsure when the 27-year-old will be ready for action.

“(It is) really unfortunate,” Klopp told liverpoolfc.com.

Oxlade-Chamberlain is set to miss the remainder of our pre-season programme after sustaining a knock to his knee during training.

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“An unfortunate situation as well; it was a challenge (in training).

“It looks like it is very similar to what Hendo (Jordan Henderson) had, which keeps him out for we don’t know for sure exactly how long.

“But for sure this pre-season he will not make a game – Arsenal (in the Community Shield) for sure not and then we will see. The next game is probably two weeks later, but I don’t know.

“We have to wait but it is far away from being perfect, of course. It is really hard for him and hard for us, but it is not to change.”

Oxlade-Chamberlain, who moved to Anfield from Arsenal in 2017, made 43 appearances last season having missed the majority of the previous campaign with a serious knee injury.

The PA news agency understands Liverpool are not expected to be affected by new coronavirus quarantine rules that come into effect from 04:00 on Saturday.

Austria has been added to the list of countries where anyone entering the UK will have to isolate for 14 days but, because they are playing fixtures and not just training, Liverpool can apply for exemption through the Football Association – a process which is believed to have begun.