On Wednesday evening, Liverpool return to the Carabao Cup, and things don’t get any easier for the struggling Reds as they take on Crystal Palace in the fourth round of England’s second cup competition.
In the midst of four straight league losses, it’s clearly not the top priority—but it is a chance to perhaps improve the mood.
With first choice goalkeeper Alisson Becker out injured and Giorgi Mamardashvili filling in for him in the league, it could also be a chance for a Liverpool debut for 28-year-old third-choice goalkeeper Freddie Woodman, who signed with the Reds last summer after three years as the starter for Preston North End in the Championship.
“We train in the goalkeeping area at the AXA Training Centre and I regularly see the photo of Caoimhin Kelleher on the wall after his success in the recent finals,” Woodman noted. “You can really write yourself into history if you win trophies at this club, so I know how important it is and the club recognises how important it is, too.”
Moving to Liverpool marks a significant shift in Woodman’s career, with the player racking up a total of 138 appearances for Preston over the past three seasons as first-choice in goal. There’s no reason, then, he couldn’t have continued as a starter at the Championship level, or perhaps joined a top flight club as a backup.
The draw of the defending Premier League champions, though, proved something that Woodman simply didn’t feel he could ignore in the end, and he’s now widely tipped to get his first start for his new club tomorrow—something that’s hardly a certainty for a third-choice goalkeeper at any level and in any competition.
“I’ve played consistently over the last five or six years in the Championship and a few Premier League games [with Newcastle],” he noted. “I wanted to keep playing and I’m only 28. But there was a conversation in the summer and Liverpool came up. I had other options but my dad said, ‘How do you turn down Liverpool?’”
