Most football fans will have had an understanding of Caoimhín Kelleher's exciting potential as a goalkeeper. Even by those standards, he has exceeded expectations between the sticks for Liverpool this season.
With Alisson out for an undetermined spell after once again suffering an injury layoff, Kelleher has once again been thrust into the spotlight for Arne Slot's league leaders.
The biggest compliment that could be paid to Kelleher is that it does not even seem as though anything has changed at the back for Liverpool. The sturdiest defence in the league this year, the Reds have conceded just six goals in 11 games this season - with half of those coming in the games against rivals Chelsea and Arsenal.
Kelleher has pulled off some big stops since stepping into Alisson's spot, and has kept two clean sheets in five Premier League appearances. He has also not conceded a single goal in his two Champions League outings, against the big dogs of RB Leipzig and Bayer Leverkusen.
It's been an outstanding run between the sticks - and it prompted Gary Neville to put Kelleher among his 'surprise players of the season' in the Premier League so far.
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Gary Neville makes big Caoimhín Kelleher claim
The Overlap crew of Gary Neville, Roy Keane, Paul Scholes, Ian Wright, and Jill Scott selected their 'surprise players of the season' on this week's episode of Stick to Football with Sky Bet.
All five scoffed at the idea of Cole Palmer being put forward as a "surprise" option after his excellence last season but, other than that, the expected names all came up. Yoane Wissa, Ryan Gravenberch, Facundo Buonanotte, Morgan Rogers, and the standout selection of Chris Wood were all largely agreed upon as picks by the panel - but Neville's suggestion of Caoimhín Kelleher drew almost the most unanimous agreement.
(The discussion on Caoimhín Kelleher begins at 58:45 in the above video)
The discussion showed just how highly the panel rate the 25-year-old Irish keeper:
Neville: "I'll throw someone else in - Kelleher, who we [he and Keane] were talking about the other day. He's come in for Alisson...
Wright: "Yes!"
Keane: "Yeah, he's done well to be fair."
Scholes: "Yeah..."
Scott: "He's done very well"
Wright: "Liverpool doing all that without Alisson?"
Keane: "He's done brilliant, yeah, he's got a chance."
Wright: "Well done Caoimhín."
It's no surprise given the consistency Kelleher has displayed since coming into the Liverpool team, with some even making the outlandish suggestion he could challenge Alisson for his spot between the sticks.
The discussion of the Overlap panel comes just days after Roy Keane gave unusually enthusiastic praise to his fellow Corkonian ahead of Ireland's game against England at Wembley - a game Kelleher would likely rather forget.
It's been a brilliant campaign thus far for Caoimhín Kelleher, who continues to go from strength to strength in the Liverpool goal.
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