Caoimhín Kelleher happy to give Liverpool boss Arne Slot ...

Brazilian stopper Alisson is expected to remain sidelined for the next number of weeks. 

"All I can do is play well when I get the chance and give the manager something to think about," said Cork native Kelleher.

"Most importantly is that I do well when I do get the opportunities and show what I'm about."

Kelleher was playing in the Champions League for the first-time since December 2020. 

"One of the lads asked me before the game when was my last Champions League game. I think it was maybe three years ago. It's special to be back in this tournament and to get the clean sheet was nice."

Meanwhile, Slot told his players they must be proud after achieving the “almost impossible” feat of setting new club records.

Darwin Nunez’s 27th-minute goal was enough to win in Saxony, a victory that makes this Liverpool side the first to win their first six away games of a season, and the first to win 11 of their opening 12 matches in all.

Just a few months into Slot’s reign, Liverpool sit top of the Premier League with a perfect record in the Champions League.

“I think I said before that we should be proud because so many great teams have worn this shirt, so many great players have been at this club,” Slot said.

“To achieve something that was not achieved before is almost impossible at a big club like this.

“To achieve it is always nice but as I said about other records, records are nice but other things are nicer than records and you know what I mean by that – trophies.”

After Slot said his side were second best for large parts of Sunday’s 2-1 win over Chelsea, Liverpool did not have things all their own way in Leipzig, and the hosts might have been 2-0 up inside the opening 25 minutes as big chances fell for Benjamin Sesko.

Lois Openda found the net in the 26th minute but was offside in doing so, and a minute later, Nunez had put Liverpool in front.

Even so, they needed another offside flag to deny Openda again late on after Kelleher had made big saves from Sesko and Xavi Simons.

“If you play a good team, a big team away, there are always moments in the game and they will have some moments as well,” Slot said.

“The way I looked at this game, for me we had a large part of the game total dominance as we did in all the games except for Chelsea. I’m not worried at all about this game.

“I was a bit more worried after the Chelsea game but this is what I like to see, the team play with much more possession, freeing up the midfield.”

Slot added: “Many, many times we played through their press and opened up their midfield and went for an attack that led to the first goal and there were more chances, more than a few.

“In the end it’s a pity that you still need your two centre-backs to play such a big game and your goalkeeper to make two big saves. A game like this should have been ours after 60 or 70 minutes and that’s why the last 20 minutes were so difficult for us.”

With the game still in the balance, Slot took off Mohamed Salah just after the hour mark and replaced him with Luis Diaz, a decision the Dutchman admitted was made with an eye on Sunday’s Premier League trip to Arsenal.

“We have some injuries, we have to take good care of the players,” Slot said. “The players have played a lot and Mo is one of them. Sunday is a big game coming up. I need to use as many players as I can for these tough months.”

PA