We’re chasing and know we can’t afford to lose points now, asserts Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
Liverpool’s Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has revealed that the team knows exactly what they need to do now and asserted that they can’t afford to drop any more points going forward. The Reds cut the gap to Manchester City to just nine points after their latest win and also have a game in hand.
With the season over the half-way mark, many have already handed the league title to Manchester City and few would blame fans for doing that. The Cityzens have a nine point lead over second-place side Liverpool and a ten point lead over Chelsea, in third. Not only that, they’ve lost just twice this season and haven’t lost a league game since the last week of October. However, Liverpool’s latest win over Crystal Palace saw them cut the gap down and it has many fans hoping again.
But despite that, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has revealed that Manchester City’s current form and the way they are playing means that the onus is on Liverpool. The midfielder admitted that they are now hunting down City and thus can’t afford to even drop or lose points going forward. He also added that Pep Guardiola's team will feel a little pressure and a drop in performances, as witnessed by their draw to Southampton, which will help.
“That’s the position we find ourselves in now: we are chasing and we know we can’t afford to lose points and drop points. We just have to keep winning and you keep winning games, you put pressure on the teams ahead of you,” Oxlade-Chamberlain told Liverpoolfc.com.
“I think when we won the Premier League a couple of years ago, even though we had a big gap you still feel that little bit of pressure when teams are chasing you. You maybe have a bit of a dip in performance and drop a couple of points.
“You never know, those things can affect teams. We’ve just got to keep winning games, keep putting pressure on and whatever will be will be in the end.”
The league is currently on a two-week international break which has seen a few Liverpool and Chelsea fans unhappy because their sides had just found momentum. But Oxlade-Chamberlain revealed that while momentum and winning games is important, they also need to stay fit and get as much rest as possible.
“Whilst the team are winning games you want to keep playing games and keep winning games. But at the same time there are a lot of games, a lot of fixtures and we are going to have an important run-in, and we need everyone as fit and as rested as possible.
“So when you get these opportunities and with the busy schedule, especially just after Christmas in January, it’s good for the lads, so we’ve got to make sure we rest up and keep doing a bit of work whilst we are off and we’ll be ready for when we come back," he added.