Alisson Becker remains sidelined for Liverpool but his trusted deputy Caoimhin Kelleher was more proved his worth in the win over Aston Villa
Arne Slot has admitted that Alisson Becker will regain his starting berth in goal for Liverpool when back fit despite Caoimhin Kelleher’s impressive form in the Brazilian’s absence. The Irishman made his eighth appearance of the season against Aston Villa as he kept a second-successive clean sheet to help the Reds record a 2-0 victory.
Goals from Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah saw Liverpool extend their lead at the top of the Premier League table to five points as they picked up their 15th win from the Slot’s 17 games in charge to date.
Starting six of the Reds’ last seven outings in the absence of Alisson, who has been sidelined with a hamstring injury since early-October, Kelleher has kept three clean sheets.
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His shut-out against Villa was his first in the Premier League. But despite continuing his impressive form, Slot admitted Kelleher will lose his place when Alisson is back fit, which is expected to be after the November international break.
“First of all, Alisson needs to become fit,” Slot said. “I have always been quite clear, that’s always been the position of Alisson.
“He is and will be our first goalkeeper if he is fit. But first he needs to be fit.
“But Caoimh has done outstanding, last season and this season again as well but the moment Alisson is fit, he will be our first goalkeeper.”
Meanwhile, despite his side extending their advantage at the summit, Slot warned that the likes of Manchester City and Arsenal are more than capable of quickly cutting into the deficit despite their recent below-par form if the Reds don’t remain on the top of their game.
“It was definitely a big week but every game is a big week,” Slot said after Liverpool picked up a third successive win at Anfield in the space of a week. “We play so many games in so many competitions against so many strong opponents.
“Hopefully we will have a lot of these weeks to come because these weeks are mostly big if you are competing for something and that’s what we are doing at the moment.
“We are trying to compete for the league, trying to compete for the Champions League and trying to compete in the cups we are in as well as well.
“We also know it is a long season where we have to continuously be at the top of our game because the likes of Arsenal, City and Chelsea, and all these other clubs, are able to win as many games as we did in the first 15, 16 games.
“We have to stay on the top of our game, which is never going to be easy but we will push for it as much as we can.”
