Loris Karius set to retain spot for Liverpool against Swansea

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Karius has featured against Derby County and Hull City so far.

Loris Karius will remain in goal for the Reds’ trip to Swansea City in the Premier League on Saturday, the Liverpool Echo reports.

Karius kept his place in the side for the 5-1 win over Hull City at the weekend after he made his competitive debut in the EFL Cup win over Derby County the Tuesday before.

Reds boss Jurgen Klopp is quoted in the Liverpool Echo, saying: “He (Karius) can play against Swansea again, I already spoke to the goalkeepers, they know it.

“We had a game at Derby, what can I do? He did not have 500 balls, just two or three balls. Against Hull, I’m not sure, not too many balls.

“Of course to understand how a player reacts in situations you need the games. We don’t have the games in the week so we do it on the weekend and then at a specific point we can make a decision because I know the goalkeeper position is different than the centre-half position for example. I know this and I respect this so we’ll see.”

Simon Mignolet occupied the goalkeeping position for the first five league games of the season, as well as the EFL Cup second round win over Burton Albion while Karius was recovering from a broken hand he sustained in a pre-season game on the Reds’ tour of the United States.

It seems that Klopp is intent on giving his summer signing from Mainz the opportunity to prove what he can do. After all, Karius has not moved to Merseyside after being the first choice at Mainz to be Mignolet’s deputy.

Klopp has often spoken that he wants to have two good goalkeepers to choose from. Mignolet performed solidly at the start of the season and it seems the time was right to have a look at Karius prior to the international break.

He has not had a lot to do in his opening two games given Liverpool’s dominance in the matches against Derby and Hull – although some will suggest he should have tried to deal with the cross that led to Hull’s consolation goal at the weekend – so it is understandable that Klopp will want that little more time to look at him.

What could be a big clue as to who will be the number one for the majority of the season is who lines up in goal when the Reds take on Manchester United in the first match after the international break next month.