2 years ago
451 Two Liverpool players have been left ‘immensely frustrated’ after the club’s pre-season tour of Asia, with the Athletic reporting that Diogo Jota and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain have suffered injury setbacks.
Jurgen Klopp and his Liverpool side got their season preparations underway last week as the club played games against Manchester United and Crystal Palace.
While the Reds suffered a 4-0 defeat against their North West rivals, they got back to winning ways after beating Palace 2-0 on Friday. And as Klopp looks to bed in new signings and adapt to life without Sadio Mane, two of his players have suffered injuries on the tour.
Photo by Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images
Jota and Oxlade-Chamberlain left frustrated after pre-season tour
The Athletic reports that Jota and Oxlade-Chamberlain have been left annoyed after setbacks with injuries during the pre-season tour of Asia.
Jota suffered a hamstring injury last month while playing for Portugal in the Nations League and the Athletic state that the 25-year-old was closely monitored over the summer then given the green light to train again.
The report states that the striker broke down in training again and has now been ruled out of Liverpool’s Community Shield tie against Leicester at the end of this month.
Photo by John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images
There has also been more injury woes for Oxlade-Chamberlain, with the Athletic stating that the Englishman limped off during the game against Palace and remains sidelined.
Jota got off to a brilliant start last season under Klopp as he was a regular starter for the Reds. But after the signing of Luiz Diaz from Porto in January, his gametime dropped significantly.
The Portuguese striker will be desperate to get back into Klopp’s team and there may be an opportunity as Mane departed for Bayern Munich.
Of course, he’ll have to compete with new signing Darwin Nunez but the Uruguayan may need time to settle in.
Photo by John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images
As for Oxlade-Chamberlain, his latest injury adds to his fitness woes. Similar to Jota, he also fell down the pecking order at Anfield last season as he failed to feature for Liverpool in any of their last six games.
The England international’s time on Merseyside has been plagued with fitness issues, and it’s hardly helpful having his preparations for the new campaign disrupted again.
That being said, the good news for Oxlade-Chamberlain is that he retains the faith of Klopp, who still apparently wants to keep him despite his latest injury news.
Both players will now be eager to get back to full fitness and force their way into Klopp’s plans this season sooner rather than later.
It could be another big season for the Reds as they look set to battle Manchester City for the Premier League title once again.
The post Report: Two Liverpool players left 'immensely frustrated' after pre-season tour finishes appeared first on The Boot Room.
