Losing out to Manchester City gave Liverpool ‘heightened respect’, admits Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain admits losing out on the Premier League title to Manchester City last season helped inspire Liverpool to even greater heights in 2019-20. 

Jurgen Klopp‘s side amassed 97 points in 2018-19 and yet while it was a near faultless campaign, Pep Guardiola’s City side won away to Brighton on the final day to clinch back-to-back titles, leaving Liverpool’s players and supporters devastated at having come so close. 

But Oxlade-Chamberlain believes that experience provided the players with a ‘heightened respect’ for their counterparts at City and has been key in raising expectations this season, as they currently sit top and clear of the rest by 25 points. 

Manchester City amassed 98 points to go and make it back-to-back league titles last season

Losing out in 2018-19 inspired Liverpool to greater heights, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain believes

‘It was sort of another heightened respect for Man City as a team, to go 100 points and then 98 back to back, that takes a lot of doing,’ he said, according to the Liverpool Echo.

‘Mentally, as a group of players, I think that’s maybe where we thought, “Alright, 97 points not good enough” and I remember the manager saying we’ve got to do more. Simple as that.

‘He was adamant that’s not enough, you’ve got to do more, and I think it’s a credit to us in what we’ve done so far this season.’

Liverpool are streets ahead of their rivals having lost just once in the league this season. 

The Liverpool and England midfielder admits they had ‘heightened respect’ for City after it all

Klopp’s side needed two more wins to mathematically secure the title before all action was suspended due to the outbreak of coronavirus.

And despite winning 27 of their 29 league matches, and almost certainly on the cusp of winning their first league title since 1990, Oxlade-Chamberlain reiterated that ‘it’s not finished yet’.

Action has been off since March 13 and the initial suggestion was that suspension would last until April 30. 

The escalating nature of the virus is likely to see that date at the end of April revised with no clear idea yet as to how or when the league will be able to get back underway. 

‘Obviously this is a strange time because you talk about momentum and that’s the same for every team at the minute, but it’s not finished yet,’ Oxlade-Chamberlain added. 

City have crumbled this season and see Liverpool 25 points clear at the top of the league table