Arsenal confident Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will be fit to face Liverpool
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Version 0 of 1. Arsenal are confident Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will be fit enough to feature against Liverpool on Sunday, despite the England midfielder suffering discomfort in his groin late on against Newcastle last weekend. Oxlade-Chamberlain, who had carried a slight groin complaint into that game, had been impressive in the win before pulling up with a recurrence of the problem as full-time approached. He was substituted as a precaution in injury time, allowing Ainsley Maitland-Niles to enjoy his first taste of Premier League football, and was due to have an injection to try to settle down the injury. The Arsenal squad were granted three days off in the aftermath of the 4-1 success, with one eye on the busy Christmas schedule ahead, and Oxlade-Chamberlain will be monitored when he returns to London Colney on Wednesday. Yet there is optimism within the medical department that he should be fit enough to play at Anfield, where Arsène Wenger hopes to welcome back Theo Walcott after his groin problem. The manager is already without the influential midfield quartet of Mikel Arteta (calf), Jack Wilshere (ankle), Mesut Özil (knee) and Aaron Ramsey (hamstring), as well as his centre-half Laurent Koscielny (thigh), for the game on Merseyside, with only the defender of that quartet boasting any real chance of featuring against Queens Park Rangers on Boxing Day. |