Liverpool will miss Alisson – but this is why they refused to sell Caoimhin Kelleher

Alisson’s grimace in the closing moments of Saturday’s game at Manchester City sent a shiver of concern through the Liverpool fanbase — and no wonder.

The Brazilian goalkeeper has provided the sturdiest of foundations for Jurgen Klopp’s side to compete for major honours in each of his six seasons playing for the club. There is not a more consistent player in the starting line-up, so his pained expression at the Etihad Stadium as he clutched the hamstring of his right leg was shared by many of his supporters.

Player and club now face a nervous wait to learn the extent of the damage, but history suggests a period on the sidelines is inevitable.

Alisson did not enjoy his best day on Saturday — his distribution was surprisingly poor — but he remains central to Liverpool’s hopes of pushing for another Premier League title this season.

When he is present, Liverpool enjoy the security and stability that only one of the best goalkeepers in the world can offer. He is a master at one-on-one situations through excellent positioning and agile reflexes but he also builds play from the back, and he does it all with an air of calmness which is infectious.

And this season, he has been imperious, as the numbers underline.

Best save % in Premier League 2023-24

That sky-high save percentage is built on world-class moments, such as the one to deny Phil Foden on Saturday or, perhaps more importantly, when he somehow thwarted Newcastle United’s Miguel Almiron in August during what ended up as a 2-1 Liverpool win.

Alisson is also one of the Premier League’s best performers when it comes to preventing goals — a metric that calculates how many goals a ’keeper has denied their opponents based on the quality of the chance they were facing.

Best goals prevented in PL 2023-24

PlayerxG on target concededGoals concededGoals prevented

28.3

22

6.3

18.7

15

3.7

23.5

20

3.5

13.4

10

3.4

19.3

16

3.3

When Klopp made a special presentation last season in the dressing room to mark Alisson’s century of clean sheets, he joked that the numbers on the back of the shirt were actually in recognition of “100 life-saving saves this season”.

It’s why, in the middle of the stoppage-time madness at the Etihad, the Liverpool manager had a look of panic when his goalkeeper dropped to the turf as his side tried to defend a corner.

Most of Klopp’s angst related to the immediate threat of holding onto a valuable away point against the champions, and while there will be hope that the injury is not serious, it is a headache he could do without as Liverpool enter a run of nine games in 27 days in all competitions, including potential season-defining fixtures against Manchester United and Arsenal before Christmas.

At least the club have planned for this eventuality.

Within Anfield, there is a strong belief they have one of the best-equipped backup goalkeepers in the Premier League in Caoimhin Kelleher and one that, inevitably, there would come a point where he was called upon to hold the fort in a scenario like this.

Kelleher has needed to be patient. Alisson, now 31, has not missed a Premier League game through injury since December 2020, even if he has sat out the odd game for other reasons (including the death of his father and testing positive for Covid-19).

He’s as durable as he is reliable but all top clubs are prepared for setbacks and it is why Liverpool insisted on keeping Kelleher — who has made no secret of his desire to be a No 1 — this season, despite interest from elsewhere.

Ultimately, there were no firm offers for the 25-year-old Republic of Ireland international, partly because Liverpool made it clear they were not interested in selling and that it would take a huge bid to change their minds, but also because other clubs chose alternative options.

Liverpool failing to qualify for this season’s Champions League actually benefited Kelleher, as it has given him the opportunity to play more often in the group stage of the Europa League — a competition they are favourites to win.

Having that run of games (he’s started three of the four matches) has helped — he has already played more games this season (five) than in the whole of the previous one (four) — but while Liverpool have won four of the five games he’s started in all competitions, he has conceded in all of them, and some of his performances have been shaky.

Kelleher’s greatest strength in previous seasons has been coming in cold and filling in for Alisson. It’s difficult to maintain such high standards without a rhythm and understanding but the five games he’s played this term in the Europa League and Carabao Cup this season will certainly help.

That in itself is hardly surprising given Kelleher’s lack of rhythm in his outings for Liverpool, and the pressure that comes from standing in for one of the best goalkeepers on the planet. And Kelleher has fallen short of his team-mate in most metrics this season, most notably in goals prevented, where there is a swing of six between them.

How Liverpool keepers compare in 2022-23

KelleherAlisson

56.25

Save %

79.63

1.4

Goals conceded per game

0.8

-2.46

Goals prevented

3.74

4.6

Successful long passes per game

3.6

0.2

Keeper sweepings per game

0.6

0.2

Accurate keeper sweepings per game

0.5

In these times of need, perhaps Liverpool will need to offer a greater shield of protection to Kelleher, such as opting for the experience of Joe Gomez over emerging youngster Jarell Quansah in the Europa League and beyond.

Kelleher was always set to play on Thursday against Austrian visitors LASK but now is his time to show exactly why he’s so highly rated.

If we’re not talking about Alisson’s absence in the weeks ahead, then his backup will have done exactly what was required.

(Top photo: Michael Regan/Getty Images)