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Liverpool and Ireland goalkeeper Caoimhín Kelleher. Alamy Stock Photo
opportunity knocks

Kelleher set for Premier League start in Liverpool's clash with Watford

Reds manager Jurgen Klopp has confirmed that Alisson won’t be available for tomorrow’s game.

FOUR DAYS AFTER making his full senior international debut, Ireland goalkeeper Caoimhín Kelleher is in line for a rare Premier League start for Liverpool.

Manager Jurgen Klopp has revealed that the club are sending Alisson Becker and Fabinho straight to Spain from international duty with Brazil to complete their Covid quarantine.

The pair were unlikely to feature against Watford in tomorrow’s lunchtime kick-off as their country’s World Cup qualifier against Uruguay did not finish until the early hours of this morning.

However, rather than bring the players home, Liverpool have opted to send them straight to Madrid, where they face Atletico in the Champions League on Tuesday, in order for them to complete their necessary 10 days’ quarantine so a return to England later next week will leave them free of any restrictions.

“We had to sort quarantine issues and the decision we made is the boys will not be here, they will go directly to Madrid, wait there for us, hopefully be able to play against Atletico, then will come back slightly later than us, so then they can come back in our normal procedure again,” said Klopp.

“Obviously they could have flown into England, but with all the quarantine stuff that would have meant they would have to isolate from their families. Ali has three kids and being away with the national teams and then 10 days in isolation with the same rubbish again… we need solutions for that and they are still not there.

“They have played in Brazil so they already had four days there not in a red list country and that’s what counts. Then another six days not in a red list country, then they can come back and start immediately – so even when they go from bubble to bubble to bubble, it is still 10 days and for us that is the solution.”

In Alisson’s absence, Kelleher is expected to make his third Premier League appearance. It would mark his 11th first-team outing in total across all competitions.

The 22-year-old Corkman, who played in Ireland’s 4-0 win over Qatar on Tuesday, most recently featured for Liverpool in last month’s 3-0 victory against Norwich City in the Carabao Cup.

– Additional reporting by Paul Dollery

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