Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has confirmed that ‘keeper Loris Karius will make his long awaited competitive debut for the Reds when they face off against Derby County tomorrow in the League Cup after the German shot-stopped recovered from a broken hand suffered against Chelsea in a pre-season friendly and rejoined full training earlier in the month.
“Loris will play, if nothing happens,” confirmed the German manager. “He was a really strong Bundesliga goalkeeper and that means a lot. Germany is a goalkeeper country. We have no issue with goalkeepers. The best keeper in the world plays at Bayern Munich and is German,” mused Klopp. “We have always had good ones, maybe not always the best in the world, but good ones.”
Signed from Bundesliga side FSV Mainz 05 during what was a busy summer on Merseyside, Karius has long been tipped to be a replacement for Liverpool’s error prone incumbent Simon Mignolet. Although Klopp has refused time again to say who he expects to start week in and week out, he has expressed satisfaction at the options that he has available to him and that his decisions will be made on form rather than money, reputation or expectation.
“It is not because we paid money for Loris and did not pay money last year for Simon that I make the decision,” explained the Reds boss, waving away any suggestion that external factors have played a part in Karius earning his first start. “It is about what I see in training, and what I see is two very good goalkeepers and another for the future we gave to Huddersfield [Danny Ward],” added Klopp, giving a nod to the on-loan Welshman. “The business is done for this position hopefully and now they have to perform.”
