Huge blow for Klopp as £125,000/week ace as ruled out of Arsenal vs Liverpool cup semi-final at Emirates

Liverpool assistant manager Pepijn Lijnders says that the club will continue to assess the ankle injury that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain sustained in Sunday's 3-0 win over Brentford in the Premier League.

The victory took the Reds a tiny bit closer to Manchester City in the table as they look to claw their way back into the Premier League title race.

Chamberlain suffered an ankle injury on Sunday after his studs got caught in the turf and he seemed to tweak it but it doesn't seem to be a hugely serious injury, according to Pep which is fantastic news.

He's in contention to start against Crystal Palace in the Premier League at weekend but will not face the Gunners on Thursday.

The bad news is that Chamberlain, who reportedly earns £125,000/week, is ruled out of the EFL Cup semi-final trip to London to face his former club Arsenal which is a massive blow for Liverpool.

Asked for an update on Oxlade-Chamberlain’s condition, assistant manager Pepijn Lijnders told Liverpoolfc.com on Wednesday morning: “If we speak about Ox we have to discuss his performance as well. He was outstanding.

“He gives so much to the team because of the variety he can play with because he can play on the eight, he can play on the nine, he can play on the wing and he plays all these positions with a lot of quality. He is in a really good moment so it’s a shame that he falls away.

“I spoke yesterday with him and he thinks it’s not that bad. We have to assess it day by day. I would not rule out the weekend but for sure not tomorrow.”

Lijnders also reported no fresh injury concerns within the squad as they build towards a decisive second meeting with the Gunners at Emirates Stadium.

“No, yesterday training looked really good,” said the Dutchman. “We had our second-day recovery; the boys who played [against Brentford] looked fresh after a day off.

“They looked with loads of energy, they were shouting at each other. They have this quality of capacity to make even like a simple rondo, five against two, really competitive.

“We cannot look into their brain but physically they look good and the subs trained, to be honest, really well.”

It's an unfortunate break for Chamberlain as the English midfielder was just beginning to show he could avoid injury and with Thiago injured, Naby Keita at AFCON and Harvey Elliott just returning to training, Jurgen Klopp is limited in midfield.