Klopp names his starting keeper v Swansea & explains why

Posted by

Liverpool will stick with German goalkeeper Loris Karius next weekend against Swansea, despite a less than convincing Premier League debut against Hull.

Jurgen Klopp decided to drop Simon Mignolet and go with the summer signing at Anfield, although Karius stayed on his line twice during Hull corners – one of which ended up in the back of the net.

SEE MORE:
Liverpool U23s boss hails impact of superb 17-year-old prospect, who bagged in Sunday’s win

It was difficult to properly judge the former Mainz stopper though, as Liverpool completely dominated and as a result, Klopp wants to give him another chance.

“He (Karius) will play against Swansea again, I already spoke to the goalkeepers, they know it,” Klopp told the Echo.

“We had a game at Derby, what can I do? He did not have 500 balls, just two or three balls. Against Hull, I’m not sure, not too many balls.

“Of course to understand how a player reacts in situations you need the games. We don’t have the games in the week so we do it on the weekend and then at a specific point we can make a decision because I know the goalkeeper position is different than the centre-half position for example. I know this and I respect this so we’ll see.”

The boss was keen though to salute Mignolet, who may now be getting ready for a period on the bench for the first time in his Liverpool career.

In fairness, Mignolet has been pretty impressive this term and taking him out of the side is harsh, but the best managers in the world are ruthless when they feel they have to be.

“Like Simon is, one of the best professionals we have,” Klopp continued. “Like I said a few times, before the game there is only the decision. After the game if someone wants to talk about it we can talk about it, but before the game nothing else than the game.

“If he wants to talk we can talk, there’s no problem, but it will be not a problem because I know him. We cannot promise line up positions. We can only say we made decisions, use them.”

We now predict that bar any mistakes or clangers, Karius will be our Premier League keeper and Mignolet will have to content himself with chances in the EFL Cup.

More Stories Loris Karius Simon Mignolet