Jurgen Klopp reiterated his faith in Liverpool’s stand-in goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher as he revealed Alisson leapt to the defence of his fellow shot-stopper after Sunday’s 4-3 win over Fulham.
Trent Alexander-Arnold’s late winner ensured Liverpool finished on the right side of a seven-goal thriller last time out, keeping them within touching distance of the Premier League summit ahead of Wednesday’s trip to Sheffield United.
The two first-half goals Liverpool conceded in that match led to criticism of Kelleher in some quarters, with Fulham’s first equaliser coming when Harry Wilson prodded through the 25-year-old’s legs, and their second seeing him caught out by Kenny Tete’s close-range flick.
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Kelleher was making his first Premier League appearance of the season, with Alisson sidelined after sustaining a hamstring injury in Liverpool’s recent 1-1 draw at Manchester City.
Despite some suggesting Kelleher should have done better with Fulham’s goals, Klopp defended the Irishman on Tuesday and said Alisson had helped to explain how they came about.
“I really think he played a really good game,” Klopp said of Kelleher at Tuesday’s press conference. “In possession he was good, especially with his feet, but then we conceded two goals [in the first half].
“One, the Harry Wilson goal, is an unlucky one as a goalie. If the ball goes through the legs, it goes through the legs and that happens.
“The second one, our goalie coaches and Ali especially explained to me, ‘we are front-foot goalkeepers’. I know that and at that moment, Caoimhin steps into the situation.
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“If Tete tries to control the ball, Caoimhin is there, but he doesn’t. He takes the shot with his first touch and then the ball passes him. These things happen.
“It has nothing to do with quality, it’s a philosophy thing. He could have saved that ball with exactly the same movement, just with a little bit more luck. So just keep going, do the same things.
“We can expect good set-pieces against Sheffield United; we can expect that maybe the better we press, the more long balls they will have to play. If they are really long, or set-pieces and wide free-kicks, we need to him to be there offensively and get off his line.”
