Pep Lijnders has confirmed one early piece of Liverpool team news ahead of the Carabao Cup semi-final against Fulham on Wednesday night.
News of a knee injury to Trent Alexander-Arnold leaves Jurgen Klopp with a selection dilemma in his defence, although the identity of the man lining up behind them is already known, with the manager’s assistant confirming on Tuesday that, as has been the case all season, Caoimhin Kelleher will start in this tournament.
Speaking to liverpoolfc.com prior to the clash against the west London side, the Dutchman stated: “Caoimh is our No.1 for this competition, so he will start tomorrow.”
Klopp was loyal to Kelleher throughout the bulk of the victorious Carabao Cup run two seasons ago, a decision which was justified by the Irishman keeping a clean sheet in the final against Chelsea and scoring in the penalty shootout triumph at Wembley.
The 25-year-old retains the manager’s faith once more, giving Alisson Becker the best part of two weeks to prepare for Liverpool’s next Premier League match against Bournemouth on 21 January.
The backup goalkeeper will be hoping that his 11th appearance of the season goes better on a personal level than when he last played against Fulham, shipping three goals to the Cottagers in the Reds’ 4-3 win at Anfield at the start of December (Transfermarkt).
However, Kelleher did keep a clean sheet in his subsequent outing against Sheffield United, and he’s rarely let his team down whenever called upon.
Only the consistent brilliance of Alisson has prevented the Republic of Ireland stopper from featuring more regularly for the Reds, and we’ve every faith in him to enhance his reputation as a Carabao Cup specialist tomorrow night.
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