Caoimhín Kelleher will continue in goal for Liverpool against West Ham in Wednesday's Carabao Cup clash, with the Co Cork native also in line to be between the posts for the Reds' league trip to Wolves on Saturday as number one keeper Alisson continues to recover from a muscle problem.
The latter picked up the injury against AC Milan in the Champions League, which meant he missed last Saturday's league win over Bournemouth.
His absence saw Kelleher, who earlier this month spoke about his desire is to leave Liverpool and prove himself as the number one goalkeeper at another club, make his first appearance since last April.
The Republic of Ireland goalkeeper pulled off some fine saves during a performance that further served to remind potential suitors of his abilities.
Afterwards, Liverpool boss Arne Slot hailed Kelleher's contribution in keeping a clean sheet.
"We needed our goalkeeper today more than in all the other matches we played before," said the Dutchman.
"Because, Bournemouth got more chances than I am used to seeing the other teams getting against us in the first six games of the season.
"But it was a good thing that we had Caoimhín today because he made some really good saves – which Alisson did in the other games as well, but he didn't have to make that many as Caoimhín made today."
In previous seasons, Kelleher has been Liverpool's man between the posts in the Carabao Cup and in 2022 memorably stepped up to convert the winning penalty as the Anfield side edged out Chelsea in the final. The same two teams met in last year's decider, with the Irish custodian again wearing the number one jersey as a Virgil van Dijk goal decided the game after extra-time.
As Liverpool begin their quest to retain the trophy against the Hammers at Anfield, Slot confirmed, as most had expected, that Kelleher will start against the Londoners, while also saying that it will be a race against time for Alisson to return at the weekend.
"Caoimhín will be in goal tomorrow. That's the one thing I know for sure at this moment. Alisson is getting there, but I think this game is coming just a bit too early.
"We’re looking at the weekend against Wolves, but it’s going to be tight, so let’s see if he manages to be there."
Federico Chiesa (above), a late transfer window signing from Juventus, is in line to make his full debut.
The Italy international has played just 20 minutes over two substitute appearances but will come in to freshen up the forward line.
"I don't think he is able to play 90 minutes, he's played 25 in the last three, four or five months. I don't think he played any friendlies for Juve," added Slot.
"He is able to start in our opinion but I don't think he is able to play 90 at the level we are playing tomorrow against a strong West Ham team."
Teenager Trey Nyoni is likely to get his first chance under the Dutch manager .
The former Leicester academy graduate, who turned 17 in June, has made rapid progress since moving to Merseyside a year ago and became the club's youngest player to appear in the FA Cup when he came off the bench in February's win over Southampton.
Nyoni had been an unused substitute as a number of Jurgen Klopp's youngsters helped the team get over the line in the League Cup final against Chelsea just a few days earlier but he featured heavily in this summer's pre-season friendlies, scoring at home to Sevilla last month.
With Slot having named the same three-man midfield for his first six competitive matches, changes are likely against West Ham at Anfield on Wednesday with the under-used Wataru Endo and Curtis Jones set to start.
It potentially leaves one space free in midfield which could be taken by 21-year-old Tyler Morton, who has nine first-team appearances to his name, or the wild card which is Nyoni.
"There is a fair chance for him to be in our squad instead of being with the under-21s (who play Harrogate on Tuesday)," said Slot of the England youth international.
"He is a young player, really young, but with a lot of talent that had some impact in pre-season and when he played he even scored a goal.
"That's probably also the reason why people see him as such a talent, because he has already shown some interesting things at his age.
"But only being a talent is not enough to play on a regular basis in the first team. We need to keep developing him and it is so important for him to keep playing his games.
"That's why he played in Milan with the under-19s. For him to develop he needs to train with us and keep having his playing time at the highest possible level but training with the likes of all the players we have helps him to develop as well."
Additional reporting: PA
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