Caoimhin Kelleher will remain in goal for Liverpool in the Merseyside derby after Arne Slot confirmed Alisson is “not ready yet” to return from his hamstring injury.
Alisson has missed the last 11 games for the club after sustaining his third hamstring injury of the year, with Kelleher tasked with stepping up in his absence.
Slot noted before the trip to Newcastle that the Brazilian is expected to be back in action before the end of 2025, but it will not be as soon as the trip to Goodison Park on Saturday.
“Not ready yet, but he will be ready very soon,” Slot told reporters on Friday afternoon.
Liverpool play a further seven games this month, including the derby, and it remains to be seen which fixture we can expect Alisson to return for.
In the meantime, Kelleher will be eager to leave the error at Newcastle in his rearview mirror and Slot insisted that “he can go into this game with a lot of confidence.”
On the Irishman, Slot said: “It was at 1-0 when Joe Gomez made a mistake and he saved it, that could’ve been 2-0.
“He saved us in that moment, so maybe he saved us a point because if we were 2-0 down, you never know, but things would have been even harder for us.
“Unfortunately for Caoimh, in the position he’s in, if you make a mistake or misjudgement, it’s very difficult for someone else to cover it up for you.
“He’s done that a few times for us, if someone else makes a mistake he’s always there to help us.
“Unfortunately, we, as a team, are not able to help him if he misjudges a ball as he is the last player.
“I think he’s in a good place, although he is disappointed like all the others because we dropped points from a winning situation one minute before the end.”
In other injury news, Slot finally offered an update on Diogo Jota and said that he is “close to being back,” as is Federico Chiesa after he played and scored for the U21s in midweek.
Slot added: “That means only Ibou, Conor, and Kostas are a bit further away from playing time.”
