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Comparing Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s Liverpool stats to his Arsenal career

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain continues to improve at Liverpool as his decision to swap Arsenal for Anfield appears to become increasingly vindicated.

Having been considered one of English football’s most talented prospects, Oxlade-Chamberlain’s career had stalled at Arsenal as he struggled for regular game time and failed to nail down a specific position in Arsene Wenger’s team.

With 12 months left on his deal at Emirates Stadium, the 24-year-old decided to press for a move in the summer and joined Liverpool in a £35million deal in August.

After a slow start on Merseyside amid initial questions about where he fit into Jurgen Klopp’s plans, Oxlade-Chamberlain has shone for the Reds in recent months, culminating in his brilliant performance against Manchester City this weekend.

We’ve compared his stats in a Liverpool shirt to recent seasons at Arsenal to see if they reflect any improvement.

Game time

One of the biggest challenges Oxlade-Chamberlain faced at Arsenal was simply getting on the pitch, whether that be due to injuries, a lack of form or simply being out of favour at the Gunners.

Last season, the England international played 1,563 minutes of Premier League football – 45.7% of Arsenal’s total.

Since making the signing, Liverpool have played 20 Premier League matches. In those fixtures, Oxlade-Chamberlain has played 913 minutes – a slightly improved 50.7% of the total.

That figure is likely to increase in the coming months now he has begun to establish himself in Klopp’s plans. He did not complete a full 90 minutes in the league until December 17, but since that date Oxlade-Chamberlain has completed 90 minutes in five of his last seven appearances.

The sale of Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona is also likely to present more first-team opportunities, especially in his favoured central midfield role.

Watch: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain explains Arsenal exit & Liverpool role

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Goals and assists

Last month Klopp spoke of his wish to see Oxlade-Chamberlain add more goals to his game, saying: “He has it in himself, but he was not asked too much of this in the past.”

Oxlade-Chamberlain’s excellent opener in the thrilling 4-3 victory over Manchester City was his third in the Premier League this season, which means he has already beaten his best tally for Arsenal in a league term.

He has also scored once in the Champions League, meaning he needs three more goals to beat his most prolific season at the Gunners – the six he scored in all competitions last term.

In terms of assists, the England international has registered three for Liverpool in the league to date. His best tally at Arsenal also came last season with seven.

Attacking

As we often point out, assist statistics need to be taken with a pinch of salt. A player can be creating plenty of chances for team-mates, only to see them go to waste.

So far this season, Oxlade-Chamberlain has been slightly more creative than last term. On average he creates two chances per 90 minutes in the Premier League for Liverpool, in comparison to 1.8 at Arsenal last season.

The highest figure he has recorded in a Premier League campaign was 2.1 per 90 minutes in 2014-15.

One notable difference at Liverpool is that he attempts fewer dribbles. This season he has completed 2.2 per 90 minutes – a success rate of 66.66%. In his final three seasons at Arsenal he completed 3.5 (67.3%), 3.6 (70.6%) and 5 (66.66%).

His passing accuracy has been consistent between the two clubs, as he averages around 82% over his last three campaigns.

Defending

One aspect of his game which was widely expected to change was his defensive work.

Oxlade-Chamberlain has always played with plenty of energy, but Liverpool’s defensive strategy under Klopp requires more intense pressing than that of Arsenal.

This is not reflected in the amount of tackles the player has been involved in, however. This season he averages 1.6 completed tackles per 90 minutes, in comparison to 2.1 and 2.2 in his final two terms at Arsenal.

In terms of interceptions, though, Oxlade-Chamberlain has made 1.7 per 90 minutes. In his final season at Arsenal he averaged 0.7.


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