Mark Lawrenson has praised Liverpool ‘keeper Caoimhin Keller following his penalty shootout heroics against Leicester in the EFL Cup on Wednesday.
The 23-year-old saved two penalties against the Foxes helping the Reds to progress through to an exciting semi-final tie against Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal.
“Every time he’s come in he’s done really well. He made a couple of really good saves during the game as well as the penalty saves. He’s definitely the number two now ahead of Adrian,” Lawrenson told Off The Ball (via HITC).
“The other thing with Kelleher is, in training he’s always playing against world-class players, so that can only possibly bring him on. He seems a decent lad and I’m told he’s a really really quick learner, he’s happy to learn and hopefully he’ll go far.”
The Irishman’s first-team chances have been rather limited due to the fact he’s up against one of the best goalkeepers in the world in Alisson Becker.
But when Kelleher has been provided with an opportunity by Jurgen Klopp, he has really impressed.
Lawrenson is right to claim that our No. 62 has very much leapfrogged Adrian in the pecking order for the number two spot.
The ‘keeper will be delighted that we’ve progressed through to the next round – it means he’s almost guaranteed another chance to showcase his talent.
It can’t be easy for him to spend so much time on the bench but with guidance from our Brazillian No. 1, and the fact he comes up against world-class players every day in training, he will continue to develop further and push for a starting spot more regularly.
We’re lucky to have such an impressive backup.