‘Keita, meanwhile, is still recovering from a stiff neck, which ruled him out of Wednesday’s win over Manchester City in New Jersey.’
Opportunity knocks for the 19-year-old.
Caoimhin Kelleher is in line to start for Liverpool against Manchester United in front of 100,000 football fans in the United States.
The Liverpool goalkeeper, who has already featured in pre-season games against Blackburn and Manchester City, is set to face United from the start, on Saturday, at the Michigan Stadium.
The Premier League rivals are both taking part in the International Champions Cup, a conglomeration of pre-season fixtures ending in a piece of silverware from whatever side has the most wins. Only the most crazed of managers – or Jose Mourinho – would count this trophy at season’s end.
Liverpool defeated City 2-1 during their midweek ICC date while United got over Milan after an epic, 26-penalty shoot-out that reminded half the world Pepé Reina was not at Napoli any more.
During the Reds win over Pep Guardiola’s men, Kelleher replaced Loris Karius at half-time. He denied Leroy Sane with a fine save but was unable to prevent the German from opening the scoring five minutes later. Goals from Mo Salah and Sadio Mane gave Jurgen Klopp’s men the win.
Karius is going through a rough patch but, as senior goalkeeper on tour, was expected to start in the 107,000-seater Michigan Stadium on Saturday (10:05pm kick-off, our time). However, an official Liverpool update has cast doubt on his participation in the match:
‘Loris Karius, Georginio Wijnaldum and Naby Keita are set to sit out Liverpool’s training session in Ann Arbor on Friday due to minor injuries. Karius is likely to miss the session due to a sore knee, while Wijnaldum has a muscle issue.
Kelleher could well be pitched in from the start in front of what would be the biggest crowd he has ever played in front of before. Capacity for the stadium is 107,000 while 97,000 tickets have been pre-sold.
The Cork native signed for Liverpool in 2015 and has made a number of appearances for their U18 and U23 teams. He has played U17 and U19 for Ireland and has featured in European Championships action for his country.
