Gary Lineker and Micah Richards have both praised the ability of Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker.
The Reds are currently sweating on the fitness of Alisson, who picked up an apparent hamstring issue during Saturday’s draw with Manchester City.
It wasn’t actually the Brazilian’s best game ever, as he made a number of uncharacteristic errors. But even in the midst of a poor performance, Alisson’s class shone through. He eventually made two big saves to gain Liverpool a point. And speaking on The Rest Is Football podcast, Lineker and Richards gave the 31-year-old his dues.
“He’s [Alisson] brilliant, in fact the two goalkeepers, Ederson and Alisson, they’re right up there in the top few goalkeepers in the world aren’t they,” Lineker gushed.
After initially going into detail about City’s Ederson and his brilliance with the ball, Richards also paid tribute to Alisson.
“Alisson is not so good [as Ederson] with his feet, but his positioning where he wants to be, he makes himself big,” said the former England defender. “The save from Haaland where it took a deflection of Van Djik. The way he waits before the striker gets his head up and then he attacks it to close down the space. I just thought watching them two live was really great to see, even though Alisson didn’t have his best game on the ball.”
Alisson still brilliant
For all his brilliance, Alisson does have stinker of a game in him every now and then. But that’s completely normal, he’s a goalkeeper. It’s impossible to be perfect all of the time.
What makes the 31-year-old stand out is just how rare these bad days at the office are. It’s typical that he did reserve one for Liverpool’s toughest game of the season on Saturday, but we just about got away with it in the end.
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And just as he could have been costly, Alisson was also a big part of the reason Liverpool were able to come away with a point.
The save Richards mentions from Haaland was absolutely crucial. The Reds actually went straight up the other end and scored after Ali blocked the Norwegian’s close-range effort.
Another big stop – in the first-half from Phil Foden – gets better every time you see it, too.
So, even during his worst game for some time, Alisson still came up trumps for Liverpool. If he’s out for any time at all, it’s going to be just about the biggest blow they could get.
As for Ederson, of course he’s an excellent goalkeeper, too. There’s a reason he’s currently the preferred choice for Brazil, we suppose.
However, there’s no question who we’d rather have in goal for Liverpool. He may be a cut above with the ball at his feet, but overall, Ederson doesn’t really come close to Alisson. Fingers crossed the injury is nothing to worry about and Ali is back on top form this weekend.