Caoimhin Kelleher to continue in goals as injury set to keep Alisson out
SET TO START: Caoimhin Kelleher will continue as Alisson Becker's hamstring problem means he remains doubtful for Saturday's trip to Wolves.
Caoimhin Kelleher will retain his place in goal for Liverpool tonight as they take on West Ham United in the third round of the Carabao Cup.
Alisson's hamstring problem, which ruled him out of their victory against Bournemouth on Saturday, continues to hamper him meaning Kelleher will again line-up for the Reds as they begin their league cup defence.
The Cork native impressed at the weekend and his manager Arne Slot admitted he could also feature in their next Premier League clash away to Wolves on Saturday.
"Alisson is getting there but I think this game is coming just a bit too early and we are looking at the weekend against Wolves - but it is going to be tight," said Slot.
The head coach knows he has a responsibility to try and retain the Carabao Cup, which was Klopp's last trophy as Liverpool manager in a season which promised much but ultimately failed to deliver.
"I know in the history of the club they won it a lot of times, most recently last season in a special way with so many youngsters on the pitch in the final," said the Reds boss.
"We are aware of the fact we won it last season and are the holders of that trophy so we have to protect that (status). We are going to give everything to win it again."
Teenager Trey Nyoni is likely to get his first chance under Slot as Liverpool begin their defence of the Carabao Cup but the new head coach will continue to take a cautious approach with the midfielder.
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 (Nyoni) 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."
One player who is pretty much guaranteed his first start is Federico Chiesa, a late transfer window signing from Juventus.
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."
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