Soccer

Caoimhín Kelleher set for extended Liverpool run as Alisson ruled out for six weeks

Irish goalkeeper set to start vital Premier League and Champions League matches after he returns from international duty

Caoimhín Kelleher is set for an extended run in the Liverpool first team with Alisson riled out for six weeks with a hamstring injury. Photograph: Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images
Caoimhín Kelleher is set for an extended run in the Liverpool first team with Alisson riled out for six weeks with a hamstring injury. Photograph: Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images
Andy Hunter
Wed Oct 09 2024 - 11:56

Ireland goalkeeper Caoimhín Kelleher is in line for an extended run in the first team at Liverpool after it was confirmed that regular No 1 Alisson faces six weeks out with the hamstring injury he sustained against Crystal Palace on Saturday.

The Brazil international was withdrawn in the 79th minute of the 1-0 win having suffered a second hamstring problem of the season. Tests have revealed the severity of the injury means Liverpool will be without their first-choice goalkeeper until after November’s international break.

Kelleher is expected to start Ireland’s Nations League game away to Finland on Thursday night despite missing the game against Palace due to illness. Third-choice goalkeeper keeper Vitezslav Jaros, who made 34 appearances for St Patrick’s Athletic while on loan from Liverpool in 2021, replaced Allison at Selhurst Park.

Liverpool face a demanding schedule between October’s and November’s international breaks, one that head coach Arne Slot believes will show the measure of his Premier League leaders.

READ MORE

They face Premier League games against Chelsea, Arsenal, Brighton and Aston Villa, the Carabao Cup trip to Brighton, and Champions League group matches against RB Leipzig and German champions Bayer Leverkusen.

Should Allison return on schedule, the goalkeeper will be available for the league visit to Southampton on November 24th and Real Madrid’s visit to Anfield three days later.

Alisson missed 10 games last season due to injury and illness and was absent for this season’s league defeat of Bournemouth plus the Carabao Cup rout of West Ham with a previous hamstring issue. But he remains a hugely influential and important figure.

Liverpool signed Georgia international Giorgi Mamardashvili from Valencia in August in a deal worth up to £29 million but he will not move to Merseyside until next summer. – Guardian