The Liverpool fans in the Transfer Tavern were pleased to see their side take one step closer to qualifying for the knockout stages of the Champions League following a 3-0 victory over NK Maribor last night.

In the reverse fixture in Slovenia 2 weeks ago, the Maribor floodgates were pried open very early into the match and they found themselves 3 nil down after just 20 minutes. However, Maribor arrived to Anfield in much sterner defensive form last night. The Slovenian outfit were able to withstand heavy Liverpool pressure and keep a clean sheet in the first-half, but their resistance was eventually broken in the 48th minute by Mohammed Salah who looks to be Liverpool’s stand out summer-signing so far this season. Goals from Emre Can and Daniel Sturridge completed a routine victory for the Merseyside club, who know that sterner tests are to follow in their remaining matches.

Thus far, the performances of Salah have largely overshadowed Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s failure to make an impact on the Liverpool team since his big-money move from Arsenal in the summer.

Although he is still finding his feet at the club, his lack of game time will concern Chamberlain with a place on the plane to Russia next summer firmly on his mind.

Chamberlain will be pleased with his much-improved performance last night, albeit, against the relatively low-calibre opposition.

Still, the signs are encouraging for Chamberlain who played 90 minutes of football for the first time since his infamous Caraboa Cup outing against Leicester in September.

It is imperative now that the Liverpool winger takes confidence from his performance last night and builds a consistent run of form for the remainder of the season.

Here are three reasons why he needs to do just that.

Selection for the World Cup squad

As 2017 draws to a conclusion, time is running out for players to prove they’re worthy of a place in Gareth Southgate’s squad for the 2018 World Cup.

So far this season Chamberlain has done little to justify a place in the England World Cup squad.

Unless the Liverpool winger can demonstrate a remarkable improvement throughout the rest of the season, he will stand very little chance of selection next summer.

Chamberlain simply must build on his performance last night and play with a consistency that has been missing from his game throughout his career so far.

Cement a place in the first-team

The Ox has struggled to break into the Liverpool first-team since moving to the club for £35 million from Premier League rivals Arsenal in the summer.

Thus far, he has only started 2 of Liverpool’s opening 10 league games including none of the last 8.

Evidently, Chamberlain is out-of-favour under Klopp at the moment and will need to continue to impress when he is given an opportunity if he wishes to force his way into Klopp’s first-team plans.

Whilst Liverpool are slightly struggling for form, Chamberlain has a real opportunity to prove his worth in the first-team in the coming weeks.

Achieve potential

It feels like Chamberlain has been playing his trade for quite some time now, but yet his development has stagnated for years whilst others around him have continued to improve.

Huge things were expected of him when he burst onto the scene as a young player who appeared to have the world at his feet.

Full of running, powerful, quick, versatile and technical – Chamberlain got fans on their feet and was a real excitement to watch, but he has failed to kick on and live up to his true potential.

There is no doubting that Chamberlain possesses raw ability in abundance, and it is about time he proved that with consistent performances for both club and country.