Alisson's ideal deputy: Why Liverpool are in safe hands with Kelleher for Carabao Cup final

Jurgen Klopp has already made his biggest selection call for the Carabao Cup final.

Caoimhin Kelleher will start for Liverpool against Chelsea at Wembley; Klopp is opting to stick with the Republic of Ireland international despite the availability of Alisson Becker, arguably the world’s best goalkeeper.

It’s a significant call, and plenty would say it’s a risky one too. When silverware is on the line, sentiment goes out of the window, or so the saying goes. When you have Alisson, you pick Alisson.

Kelleher, though, is no ordinary understudy, and it says a lot about the faith Liverpool have in the 23-year-old that they are ready to put their trust in him in a game of such magnitude, against the current European and Club World Cup champions, in what will be only his 17th first-team appearance.

Klopp confirmed after the semi-final win over Arsenal last month that Kelleher would start if fit. “He deserves that,” he said. “He brought the team here.”

He’s right. Kelleher, after all, kept a clean sheet at the Emirates as Liverpool booked their place at Wembley, and he was the hero of the rousing quarter-final win over Leicester too, saving from Luke Thomas and Ryan Bertrand in a dramatic penalty shootout.

Penalties are something of a specialty, it seems. Kelleher also saved a spot-kick from Norwich’s Christos Tzolis in the third round, while his first senior Anfield appearance, in October 2019, also ended in a shootout. That night, he denied Dani Ceballos in front of the Kop as Liverpool prevailed after a madcap 5-5 draw.

“He’s an outstanding goalie,” says Klopp. “Not a good goalie, an outstanding one. He has shown that he deserves all the faith and the trust that we have in him.”

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It is fair to say that not everybody at Liverpool foresaw Kelleher’s rise to prominence, but Pep Lijnders, Klopp’s assistant, remembers his arrival on Merseyside as a skinny, timid 16-year-old back in 2015.

“I was his coach with the under-16s,” he told GOAL on Friday. “We saw from the start, all the things that he shows now on a really high level, he had at that time.”

Liverpool had two goalkeeping prospects around that point, and for a while Kamil Grabara was viewed as the more promising one. The Pole was taller, more vocal and made spectacular saves. Kelleher, though always excellent with his feet and a gifted shot-stopper, was quieter, more introspective, perhaps a little harder to read for coaches in terms of mindset and mentality.

But Grabara never made the first team. He joined FC Copenhagen on a permanent basis last summer after loan spells with Huddersfield and AGF. Kelleher, meanwhile, has not only stuck around, but flourished. He made his first-team debut against MK Dons in 2019, and has since usurped the experienced Adrian as No.2 behind Alisson.

Challenges have been met. Kelleher made his Champions League debut and his Premier League bow in the space of five days last season, keeping a clean sheet on both occasions. His temperament, reflexes and ease with the ball at his feet - he played as a striker until his mid-teens - make him an ideal deputy.

“I think he's been outstanding,” says captain Jordan Henderson. “He's a fantastic lad, very level-headed and as a keeper: shot stopping is fantastic, distribution is amazing – and so calm as well.”

Klopp has referred to Kelleher as “a John Achterberg project’, a nod to the work the club’s long-serving goalkeeper coach has put in on the training ground. It was Achterberg, more than anyone, who believed in his talent.

“I have a lot to thank John for in that respect,” Kelleher said this week. “Ever since I came here he has been brilliant with me. 

“He has always helped me. He saw something in me since I came into first team training and he brought me on in leaps and bounds. 

“I know for sure I would not be here if it was not for him.”

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Adrian, too, has provided support and guidance. And as Kelleher says, how could a young goalkeeper not improve when training every day with the brilliant Alisson?

“Without even speaking to him you can watch him in training and can learn a lot!” he says. “He is a very humble guy and good to work with for me. He will always help me, and if there is something that has happened, or something I have done in a game then we will have a conversation about it.”

Klopp says he was impressed when Kelleher sought him out for an explanation after Alisson was selected for the first-leg of the semi-final against Arsenal. “That is the goalie we want,” he smiled. “He has matured in all departments.”

Henderson, too, has been impressed by his growth, particularly in the last 12 months.

“He's always had that calmness about him," he says. “Even when he makes big saves he has that calming presence about him which I really like. 

“It will be a big moment for him at the weekend but he has to just keep doing what he's been doing because he's been fantastic.”

Kelleher has been to Wembley once before. He was an unused substitute when the Republic of Ireland were beaten there by England in November 2020.

His second visit, he hopes will be a little more memorable. Maybe as a penalty-shootout hero again?

“I've not thought about that to be honest,” he laughs. “Hopefully it doesn't come to that and we just win it in normal time.”

Whatever happens, Liverpool will be in safe hands on Sunday afternoon - even without Alisson.