KEEPER CALM & KARI ON
LORIS KARIUS and Virgil van Dijk could be the key to turning Liverpool’s Keystone Kop defence from deadbeats to deadbolts.
German keeper Karius made crucial saves in the 2-0 win at Southampton which sends Jurgen Klopp’s men to Portugal in good heart for tomorrow’s Champions League date with Porto.
And £75million record signing Van Dijk was involved in only his third clean sheet this season – and his first for Liverpool – amid signs Klopp has finally discovered the formula for keeping the back door locked.
Karius is winning the battle with Simon Mignolet to become Klopp’s first-choice keeper after starting six of the last seven games.
Van Dijk’s blameless partnership with Joel Matip in central defence at St Mary’s was reassuring after the late chaos of the 2-2 draw with Spurs, where Dejan Lovren was preferred as his sidekick.
Karius hailed Van Dijk (left, with Klopp), saying: “He’s a great player. Of course he has to adapt because our style is so different. We defend high and he needs to get used to Joel and Dejan. But Virgil is a top player – that’s why Liverpool paid the price they did for him.
“As a keeper, you feel comfortable having players like that in front of you. I feel just as comfortable with Joel and Dejan – it’s good to know that even if you rotate, there’s always high quality.”
Karius followed his penalty save to thwart Harry Kane with an impressive display at Southampton.
The £4.7m bargain has kept seven clean sheets, and has finished on the losing side only once in 15 appearances this season.
He said: “In the last few games I’ve had more stuff to do and I’ve been able to make some saves which give you more confidence.”