Jurgen Klopp hinted at the possibility of swapping out Liverpool’s second-choice shotstopper Caoimhin Kelleher with regular No.1 Alisson Becker for the club’s upcoming Carabao Cup meeting with Arsenal.
The Reds are set to face Mikel Arteta’s men in the first-leg of the semi-final having lost home advantage for the return leg following a prior COVID-19-enforced postponement.
“Caoimh is the goalkeeper for this competition but there is a chance Ali will play tomorrow just because of the situation we were in,” the 54-year-old told reporters at his pre-match presser (via liverpoolfc.com).
“I think he needs the game now. We will see how we decide it finally but there is a good chance that Ali will play tomorrow just because of the situation with COVID and everything, when he was out.
“We all need to make sure the boys have as much rhythm as they can get. So there’s a good chance Ali will start tomorrow. But the competition is actually Caoimh’s competition, that’s true.”
The Brazilian international had previously missed out on the Merseysiders’ 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge after returning a suspected positive COVID test.
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With a need to get back into the rhythm of things before being thrown out again in our upcoming league fixtures, we can certainly understand Klopp’s thought process.
Of course, that will be little comfort to our Irish No.2, who has been a reliable option between the sticks for us in Alisson’s absence.
At the very least, should the former Roma ‘keeper be given the nod at Anfield, we’d expect Kelleher to be handed back his spot in the return fixture at the Emriates Stadium.
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