Simon Mignolet retained his place in Liverpool’s starting line-up for the 5-0 win over Swansea City on Boxing Day, despite his shocking performance against Arsenal four days earlier.
However, the Belgian goalkeeper was named on the substitutes’ bench for this afternoon’s clash against Leicester City, with Jurgen Klopp deploying Loris Karius instead.
“[It is] rotation, simple as that, because we play today and we play again in 48 hours [against Burnley],” Klopp told Liverpool’s official website. “I was always clear about that; if we can do it, if all are fit, we will not play the same goalkeeper in all these games. That’s it.”
Karius, however, found himself picking the ball out of his net after just three minutes.
Some poor defending allowed Jamie Vardy to put Leicester 1-0 up early on; however, Mohamed Salah’s second-half brace earned all three points for the hosts.
It was a huge result for Liverpool, who now find themselves just three points behind third-placed Manchester United. Jose Mourinho’s side were held to a 0-0 draw against Southampton at Old Trafford this evening.
KARIUS IMPRESSES LIVERPOOL FANS WITH UNORTHODOX GOAL-KICK
Klopp’s men were desperate to protect their narrow one-goal lead in the final minutes of the match and there was one moment from Karius which impressed Liverpool fans on Twitter.
The 24-year-old produced a rather unorthodox free-kick which supporters are convinced was entirely deliberate.
Instead of booting the ball as far as possible, Karius appeared to pick out left-back Andrew Robertson with a low pass.
Full marks to the former Germany Under-21 international if he meant it.
Watch Karius’s goal-kick here…
Amazing pass by Karius from the goal kick. Ederson who? pic.twitter.com/vHjB6IfmFX
— that's how every it gets (@CallMeMubzy) December 30, 2017
Strange one… https://t.co/4EgLHWElNU
— Best of Football (@BestofFootball8) December 30, 2017
Now let’s check out the reaction on social media…
That was a smart goal kick from Karius. #LIVLEI
— MSZ (@ThisIsMS2) December 30, 2017
Anyone see the Karius goal kick that he pinged to Robertson in order to guarantee we retained possession?
— Manish Mistry (@ManishMistry9) December 30, 2017
FANS ARE PRAISING KARIUS’S DISTRIBUTION
It seems Liverpool fans are all in agreement that Karius’s distribution is better than Mignolet’s…
Hope we start Karius more, his distribution is so much better than Mignolet's
— CP🇸🇳 (@MustBeMane) December 30, 2017
Karius is head and shoulders above Mignolet, his quick distribution is amazing
— andyh (@AndyDuHaley) December 30, 2017
Karius hadn’t much to do today and you can’t fault him for the goal conceded but his distribution is 100 times better than Mignolets , deserves a run of matches between the sticks #LFC
— clifford o brien (@lfcob) December 30, 2017