FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Europa League - Round of 16 - First Leg - Sparta Prague v Liverpool - epet ARENA, Prague, Czech Republic - March 7, 2024 Liverpool's Caoimhin Kelleher during the warm up before the match REUTERS/Lisi Niesner/File Photo
(Reuters) - Caoimhin Kelleher will make his second Premier League start in goal under manager Arne Slot when Liverpool host Chelsea on Sunday, with first-choice keeper Alisson ruled out with a hamstring injury.
Kelleher, 25, came close to leaving in the close season in search of regular playing time after Liverpool signed Georgia international Giorgi Mamardashvili, who is set to join from Valencia in 2025.
Brazil's Alisson missed international duty after suffering an injury during a 1-0 win at Crystal Palace earlier this month.
"Alisson is for sure not with us in the upcoming weeks. That's a blow for him and for us," Slot told reporters. "Now the good thing is Caoimhin did really well for us in previous years and it shows we have a good replacement."
Liverpool have a difficult run of fixtures over the next month facing four of the league's current top-six sides, and Slot said some of the players returned from international duty with knocks.
"(Alexis) Mac Allister missed one game, Kostas (Tsimikas) missed out in the first game against England. So I can name them all. We've got a few issues going on but let's wait and see where we are after today," he said.
Liverpool are on a six-match winning streak in all competitions including two Champions League wins, but Slot cautioned against judging the team on its early form.
"If you only judge your team after a week, that isn't fair. So it is only fair for you to judge us after this spell of games," he said.
"The only ones who showed they can do Champions League and Premier League in last two seasons are Manchester City and Arsenal. Best way to judge us is in four weeks."
Fourth-placed Chelsea are four points behind Liverpool with 14 points from seven matches.
"Chelsea, like Manchester United, have a lot of great individuals, which we have to try to control... looking forward to a very interesting game on Sunday," Slot said.
(Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
