Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has confirmed that goalkeeper Loris Karius will keep his place in the starting lineup for Saturday’s clash with Swansea City.
The 23-year-old made his Premier League debut for the Reds in the weekend’s 5-1 win at home to Hull City, after his first competitive appearance for his new side against Derby County in the League Cup.
Karius signed from Mainz 05 in a deal worth £4.7 million this summer, but after taking up the No. 1 shirt saw his progress hampered by a broken hand suffered during pre-season.
Now, however, he has recovered to kick off his challenge for the role of first-choice goalkeeper, vying with previously established stopper Simon Mignolet.
Speaking to reporters at Anfield on Saturday, Klopp revealed that Karius would keep his place against the Swans.
“He’ll play against Swansea again. I’ve already spoken to the goalkeepers and they know it,” he said.
“We had the game at Derby but there were not too many balls [to test him].
“You need to see how a player reacts in games and we don’t have the games in the week.
“We do it on the weekend and we have to make the decision because the goalkeeper is different to the centre-half position, for example.”
While Karius himself has insisted that “the No. 1 is just a shirt,” Klopp’s affirmation serves as major backing of his summer signing.
An away trip to the Liberty Stadium should provide the German with an opportunity to test himself against a more challenging side than Hull or Derby.
The duo had just five shots on goal between them, giving Karius little to do over his 180 minutes on the pitch for Liverpool so far.
Klopp has seemingly tipped Karius to take over as his first-choice goalkeeper, relegating Mignolet to the role of experienced backup, boosting the strength of the Liverpool squad.
With just one game a week for most of the season, Klopp has fewer chances to rotate his side, with the importance of establishing a No. 1 goalkeeper vital to ensuring stability in his defensive ranks.
Karius operating behind a consistent defensive line of Nathaniel Clyne, Joel Matip, Dejan Lovren and James Milner can only aid Liverpool’s progress in 2016/17.
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