Klopp Says Karius Will Remain Liverpool's Starting Goalkeeper
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has confirmed that German goalkeeper Loris Karius will take over as the club's first choice for the foreseeable future, despite his error in Sunday's 4-3 win against Manchester City.
Karius disappointingly let Leroy Sane beat him at his near post at Anfield, and while he shipped two second half goals too, his attackers managed to do enough to finally end City's long-unbeaten run. Karius was preferred on the day to Simon Mignolet, who has taken the role for most of the season, but Klopp insisted after the game that he would not change his choice.
Speaking to DAZN DE (reported via Foxnews), Klopp said: “He’s the No. 1, he might make mistakes but this is life. We will not make any changes. When it comes to goalkeepers you have to make a decision and stick with it. He will stay in goal.”
The enigmatic coach also admitted it was important to perform this way so that his side would not get caught in a narrative about the Merseyside club missing Philippe Coutinho after he signed for Barcelona for £142m earlier in the week.
“It’s not that I said in a meeting, ‘Boys, it would help a lot if you could win tonight so nobody speaks about Phil Coutinho anymore'.
“We like speaking about him. He’ll still be jumping in his new living room in Barcelona, happy about the win tonight. But it was important to show we can play without him and we did that. That’s a very important statement.’’
Played in a cauldron of noise, the game was enthralling from the first minute until its conclusion, with both sets of players contributing to a high tempo and free-flowing brand of football that was a wonderful advert for the Premier League.
With Liverpool leading 4-1 with eight minutes to go Guardiola’s City threatened an astonishing comeback with late goals for Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gundogan, however Liverpool held on for a famous and deserved victory.
The defeat for Manchester City ruined their unbeaten league run, but will likely serve as a blemish on their relentless run to the the Premier League title. For Klopp's Liverpool the win puts them in to third position, but equal on 47 points with Chelsea and Manchester United with goal difference separating the three sides.
Nevertheless, these chasing clubs remain a staggering 15 points behind City after their incredible start to the campaign. Although the title already appears over, Liverpool proved Guardiola's Manchester City are fallible if the tactics are relentlessly adopted by the whole team and maintained for the whole 90 minutes.
