Vitezslav Jaros was, firstly, a surprise name on the bench at Crystal Palace, and then he came on late to make an unexpected Liverpool debut, earning praise from his head coach.
We are only 10 games into the season, and yet we have now had three different goalkeepers play their part for Liverpool.
With Caoimhin Kelleher missing the trip to Selhurst Park due to illness, 23-year-old Jaros took his place on the bench for the fifth time this season – and that’s where he was expected to stay.
Alisson was a Man of the Match contender up until he clutched at his hamstring and limped off the pitch, meaning Jaros had to step in for the final 15 minutes when Palace were pushing for an equaliser.
It was an unexpected debut that finished with one save, three recoveries and almost an assist. It was a nod to the value of a third-choice goalkeeper and validated Arne Slot and Co. keeping him around.
“It was very good to see with Caoimh being sick yesterday, our third goalkeeper got this performance in,” Slot told TNT Sports.
“[It’s] always nice for a team that everyone is involved in the results.
“[He handled it] really good. He had a very good season last season, he won the league and cup where he was [Sturm Graz] in Austria.
“We trust him a lot. He wanted to go [back this season] because he wanted to have playing time again. We said at a club like this, we also need a very good third goalkeeper as well.
“Today proves we were right, and maybe for him, it was a nice moment for him to make his debut for Liverpool.”
Jaros has been on Liverpool’s books since 2017 and enjoyed a successful loan spell with Sturm Graz in the second half of last season, making 21 appearances to help win the Austrian Bundesliga.
He is a valuable homegrown player for the Reds, and we can expect to see more of him this season if Alisson‘s injury is as serious as it appears to be.
The Brazilian has already missed two games with a hamstring strain, and speaking after the match, Virgil van Dijk conceded the “injury doesn’t look good” and that “it looks like a hamstring injury which was already bothering him.”
Crystal Palace 0-1 Liverpool
