Liverpool may have received unexpected League Cup final boost as huge decisions nears

There can't be many tasks in the Liverpool squad more onerous than the one Caoimhin Kelleher has faced ever since breaking into the first team.

An Academy graduate dislodging an established senior player is difficult enough. Let alone one in the specific position of goalkeeper, where rotation is usually at a bare minimum. But that Kelleher has perhaps the world's best proponent of the art in Alisson Becker ahead of him underlines the challenge with which the Republic of Ireland international must contend on a daily basis.

Being prepared, though, has long been a cornerstone of Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp, with fringe players and youngsters having drummed into them the requirement to be ready to step in at a moment's notice.

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Such was the case for Kelleher last weekend when, with Alisson Becker taken ill overnight and joining Joe Gomez on the sidelines with flu, the keeper was thrown into the starting line-up for the Premier League visit of Burnley.

Kelleher didn't let the side down. Indeed, saves at key times from Zeki Amdouni and David Datro Fofana prevented an ultimately comfortable 3-1 victory from becoming a rather more testing affair. And, as a consequence, it gave the goalkeeper some welcome action ahead of the biggest day of his season so far - the League Cup final against Chelsea on Sunday week.

Rhythm, a Klopp watchword, may not quite be as important for a goalkeeper compared to an outfield player, but it still matters. And Kelleher's appearance against Burnley ensured he didn't go into the Wembley showdown in what would have been, in terms of