Slot confirms Liverpool decision ahead of League Cup quarter-final | OneFootball

Arne Slot has confirmed that Caoimhín Kelleher will start in goals ahead of Alisson Becker for the League Cup quarter-final against Southampton.

The Reds will travel down south to take on the Saints in the last eight of the competition on Wednesday night, with kickoff set for 8pm UK time.

Slot is expected to make some changes to his starting XI, with Alisson dropping to the bench being one of them. The Brazilian goalkeeper returned to the lineup after recovering from a muscle problem that sidelined him for two months.

Kelleher deputised admirably between the sticks in his absence, although he did receive criticism for failing to stop Newcastle United’s third goal in their 3-3 draw at St James’ Park.

Slot confirms Kelleher to start for Liverpool in League Cup

The Republic of Ireland international, who revealed earlier this season he has previously told Liverpool he wanted a move elsewhere, returned to the bench once Alisson became available for selection again.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Slot said that being a second-choice goalkeeper “is one of the most difficult jobs in football, if the first goalkeeper is always available, because you work for the whole season and you hardly ever have the chance to play.”

The Dutchman continued: “Unfortunately for us, but good for him, he has already got quite a lot of minutes. There will be players who have had far less playing time than him.

“I think he can look back at the first half of the season for himself as a positive.

Read – Five things we learned from the Premier League weekend

“We as a club hope that all players are available in the second half of the season, so he will not get the amount of minutes as he did in the first half, but we are really fortunate to have such a great second goalkeeper that if we need him he is able to do as well as he did.”

Slot also confirmed that Diogo Jota hasn’t trained following Saturday’s draw with Fulham and won’t start against Southampton, but might feature, as could Federico Chiesa.

“[Jota] wasn’t entirely okay after the game,” he said. “Didn’t train with us after the game. I don’t expect him to start but he might get some minutes.”

Read – Liverpool ‘almost unstoppable’ as Fulham leave Anfield disappointed

See Also – The perfect gift for a football fan? Noughties Nines out now

Follow The Football Faithful on Social Media:

Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube | TikTok