Simon Mignolet might have been bumped down from Liverpool’s first team after the signing of Loris Karius from Mainz but the Belgian still harbours hopes of getting back the slot from the young German goalkeeper.
The 28-year-old Belgian was signed from Sunderland but his career at Anfield has been filled with high profile errors and inconsistent performances. Klopp, however, is ready to rotate his side about and Mignolet will be playing in the EFL Cup tie against Leeds United.
The former Dortmund manager is keen to turn things around for the side and give rest to a few players. Speaking ahead of the quarter-final tie against the Championship side to Liverpool’s official website, Klopp stated:
“Simon will play if nothing happens, 100 percent.”
Karius though has done pretty well after an unconvincing start to his career at the Merseyside club. The 23-year-pld kept his third clean sheet of the league after the 2-0 win over Sunderland and was pretty good in the game barring one moment when he kicked a goal kick out for a corner.
A chance to open his account at Liverpool
Klopp’s side did reach two finals in the previous season but lost out both occasions, once to Manchester City and the other to Sevilla. City defeated the Reds in the League Cup final of last season and Mignolet is expecting a tough game against the side who are lying fifth in the second division of English football.
“We have a chance, being already in the quarter-finals and with a lot of teams knocked out of this competition. We want to move on and progress to the semi-finals.
“But you can’t really think about [winning] it yet. Leeds is going to be a very tough fixture. We have to get ourselves in the right frame of mind to get the victory against them. Then we’ll see.
“There’s no point in thinking about what’s coming – Leeds will be tough enough.”
The former Sunderland goalkeeper was also hoping to impress the manager with his performances and this would be his next appearance since the 2-1 win over Tottenham in the same competition.
“You train every day to show the manager you are ready to play,” Mignolet added. “If you get the chance, you want to show what you can do on the pitch.
“I’m really excited for this game. Hopefully we can go through to the next round. That’s the most important thing; my individual performance always comes second.
“We want to get through because after that would be the semi-final. We went to the final last season and this year we want to win it. It would be a major step. Let’s hope we can do the job.”
The Reds will hope to reach the final once again but things cannot be taken lightly. The Premier League side have had to deal with a number of injuries and will look to come out relatively unscathed.
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