Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has started nearly every match in the domestic cup competitions so far this season but, with the Reds facing Arsenal in the semi-final of the Carabao Cup later this week, there have been calls for Alisson to be reinstated.
Fans on Twitter are very much divided on whether Kelleher will keep his place or the club’s number one should be recalled for the starting lineup on Thursday night:
Kelleher should start in domestic cup match. Alisson in EPL & UCL. End off
— محمد لقمن (@luqvanderlinde) January 11, 2022
Sentiment wins you nothing in football. Play your best players in a semi final
— LFCJ (@Ifcj__) January 11, 2022
I'd play kelleher if it wasn't for him we wouldn't have got this far
— shane conway (@Conway26Shane) January 11, 2022
Why should our No 1 not play yet we are in a very crucial stage of the carabao cup.Kelleher will still get more opportunities. We need Alisson for this game.
— £mpęrör Jústyn Fãhtöüł🍂🍃🌿 (@fahtoul) January 11, 2022
Safe to say kelleher has been brilliant this season and better than alisson in some situations!! Remember alisson 2 mistakes vs spurs last month and one of them actually made us drop points
— Omar27 (@omarnsb27) January 11, 2022
Get Alison back in. No mercy to these Gunners crying all week even though we have forfeited home advantage in 2nd leg (not sure why).
Play every senior available and smash them I say.
— KopBeard (@KopBeard) January 11, 2022
Kelleher has shown that we are safe with whoever starts in goal just like the left back position. I wish we could have this situation in every position.
— Kalema Abdul Nasser* (@AbdulKalema) January 11, 2022
Manager Jurgen Klopp has only picked Alisson once for a domestic cup match during the Brazilian’s three and half years at the club. That came last season when the Reds faced Manchester United in the fourth round of the FA Cup.
If we take that as a precedent, it may suggest that Kelleher does have a good chance of starting against Arsenal. However, with it being such a crucial stage of the competition, Klopp may opt to go with Alisson instead.