Jurgen Klopp has confirmed Simon Mignolet will be among those to start for Liverpool at Wolves in the FA Cup, praising him as a “fantastic professional.”
The Reds take on Premier League opposition again in a cup game on Monday night, as they make the trip to Molineux just over two weeks after their last win over Nuno Espirito Santo’s side.
That 2-0 victory was one of eight in all competitions last month, ensuring a place in the last 16 of the Champions League and a four-point lead at the top of the league.
Now, Klopp is set to make a host of changes at the end of a hugely congested festive period, and speaking at Melwood on Saturday the manager guaranteed Mignolet would take over from Alisson.
“He will play, of course,” he told reporters.
“The goalkeeper position is a different one, but I could write a book with all the good things I could say about him.
“I’m not sure if you saw it in the warmup before the Man City game, he made seven or eight incredible saves.
“I wasn’t sure if I was happy about that but I thought ‘come on, let him gain a bit of confidence’, and he gets them from everywhere.
“That’s how he is. He’s a fantastic professional, did brilliantly so far.
“Like all the boys who don’t play constantly week in, week out, they keep the level really high in training.
“Our ‘A’ vs. ‘B’ matches are unbelievably high quality, and that’s because the boys who are a little bit in behind.
“Si is a Premier League goalkeeper, everybody knows that.
“So I’m really happy for him that he can have that game; and it will be a difficult game, maybe good for a goalie, I’m sure he’ll have the opportunity to show up a few times!”
The manager continued to explain that he would “have to make changes” from his core group from the last month, with a clutch of squad players expected to come in.
“We have to, that’s clear, we came through the intense period now, somehow OK,” he continued.
“But of course we have to make changes. How many I don’t know, but we have to, there’s no chance for anything else.”
Though both Nathaniel Clyne and Dominic Solanke have now left for Bournemouth, the likes of Alberto Moreno, Adam Lallana, Naby Keita, Divock Origi and Daniel Sturridge could all start in the West Midlands.
Youngsters Ki-Jana Hoever, Rafa Camacho and Curtis Jones are also in contention, with Klopp going on to discuss their chances of featuring.
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