Arne Slot Reveals Liverpool Goalkeeper Stance After Caoimhin Kelleher Mistake Against Newcastle United
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has reiterated that Alisson Becker will start ahead of Caoimhin Kelleher when he returns to full fitness despite the impressive performances of the latter in the absence of the Brazil international.
Alisson, who returned to training last week has been sidelined with a hamstring issue since the away victory at Crystal Palace back in October. The 32-year-old has racked up eight appearances and kept five clean sheets across all competitions this season.
Kelleher has stepped up in Alisson's absence just like last season and has already made more appearances than the former AS Roma shot-stopper this season. The Liverpool academy graduate has made 12 appearances and kept six clean sheets so far.
The 26-year-old, was however at fault for Newcastle United's equaliser as the Reds dropped points for only the third time this season in the Premier League. Newcastle took the lead through Alexander Isak's superb goal in the first half but Curtis Jones levelled it up for the Reds early in the second period.
Anthony Gordon made it 2-1 for Newcastle but Mohamed Salah struck twice and looked to have won it for the Reds, however, Kelleher's misjudgment from a free-kick let in Schar to finish from a tight angle.
Asked if it will be a difficult choice to drop Kelleher for Alisson by former Republic of Ireland stopper Shay Given for Amazon Prime Video Sport prior to the game, Slot replied: "No, I think I have been clear about the decision a few times.
"It is just as difficult as all the decisions we were just talking about - I don’t think Lucho [Luis Diaz] or Dom [Szoboszlai] deserve to be on the bench today [against Newcastle] if you look at their performances from Sunday, but it is a long season.
"A goalkeeper is a different situation. We are just as happy with Caoimh as you Irish are - he has done outstanding and that is why we should talk about now instead of what is going to happen in two weeks."
In the aftermatch of the 3-3 draw, Slot said: "I think like all the players, [Kelleher is] disappointed. Like I said, two times we were a goal down, so in these moments, you would have been happy with a point.
"But if you’re one minute before the end, 3-2 up, then you are close to a win. He made, again, some important saves for us, but he made the wrong judgement in the cross and still it was unbelievable how this defender, with his wrong leg, could score that goal."
Liverpool will look to return to winning ways when they take on Everton in the Merseyside derby on Saturday afternoon.
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LFC Transfer Room Football Correspondent. Covered the fortunes of Liverpool for the past three years. Follow Joseph on X (formerly Twitter) @joseph_agbobli