Michael Owen has revealed why he believes Jurgen Klopp favours Loris Karius ahead of Simon Mignolet, when predicting the Reds’ clash with Swansea City.
In his predictions for BetVictor, the pundit spoke of Liverpool’s current goalkeeping situation ahead of backing them to beat Swansea at the Liberty stadium on Monday.
Owen revealed he had previously been asked about Karius and Mignolet, and thinks he knows why Klopp is a fan of the young German.
“I was asked earlier in the week if I was surprised with the inclusion of Loris Karius for the Reds over Simon Mignolet for last weekend’s visit of Manchester City and I must admit I was,” confessed the pundit.
“I think Jurgen Klopp looks upon Karius as the future of the club and a better distributor of the ball with both hands and feet than the Belgian international.
“There looks little between the pair as shot-stoppers but Karius is perhaps more of a modern ‘sweeper’ and I look forward to watching his development.”
Owen revealed that he thought Swansea would manage to score on Monday, even though they will lose, as he tipped punters to back Liverpool to win and both teams to score.
OPINION
Michael Owen might be right about the reason behind the Klopp’s preference of Karius, as it certainly makes sense. The 24-year-old goalkeeper certainly looks like having the potential of being the future of the club, even if he doesn’t look ready to be the number one choice now. Karius will only develope if he plays matches, and with Mignolet being about the same level, in terms of shot-stopping, the German should continue to be the Reds first choice. That is until, Liverpool finally dive into the transfer market and sign a goalkeeper capable of making them title contenders. It’s interesting that Owen believes Klopp prefers Karius because of his distribution, as that could help narrow down the options Liverpool have when buying a new goalkeeper. There are very few goalkeepers around that have excellent distribution skills, so Liverpool will have to splash the cash for that type of goalkeeper.