Liverpool's Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain Dropped From England Squad in Favour of 3 Debutants

Liverpool midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has been axed from Gareth Southgate's senior England squad for the Three Lions' November friendlies against Brazil

Liverpool midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has been axed from Gareth Southgate's senior England squad for the Three Lions' November friendlies against Brazil and Germany, as the 47-year-old manager has opted to hand out three surprising call-ups instead.

Southgate named Tammy Abraham, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Joe Gomez in the squad, which resulted in Oxlade-Chamberlain's omission after a slow start to his career at Anfield following his £40m move from Arsenal during the summer.    

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The 24-year-old has managed just two starting appearances for Liverpool since joining the club, but he had been picked for the England squad in last month's international break, where he played against Slovenia to take his international caps to 30.

However, Southgate has clearly had a change of policy as a lack of regular game time on Merseyside has worked against Oxlade-Chamberlain, whereas the likes of Abraham, Loftus-Cheek and Gomez have benefited from their regular appearances at club level. 

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's season going from worse to worse. He has been dropped from England squad today.

— Daniel Taylor (@DTathletic) November 2, 2017

Anfield teammate Daniel Sturridge has also been dropped from the squad, alongside Chris Smalling and Jake Livermore. 

Although the 24-year-old will undoubtedly feel the disappointment of his omission from the squad, his club manager Jurgen Klopp is likely to use the time to push forward his development at Liverpool by putting him through his paces at Melwood.