Karius has Grobbelaar’s backing at Liverpool

Liverpool’s defence may still look a little shaky with goalkeeper Loris Karius between the sticks but former number one Bruce Grobbelaar insists the German can become an Anfield great.

The 23-year-old joined from Mainz in the summer and quickly displaced Simon Mignolet as Jurgen Klopp’s number one.

However, though Liverpool may be top of the Premier League by a point from Chelsea, they conceded have 14 goals so far which is more than any other team in the top seven.

Karius has taken his share of the blame but Grobbelaar, who made over 400 appearances for Liverpool, says he sees some of himself in the Reds’ latest shot stopper.

Photo by John Peters/Man Utd via Getty Images

“I’ve been watching Karius since last season, when he was with Mainz,” he said. “He is one for the future.

“When you watched his highlights, you could see that he did things that reminded me of me when I was that age.

“It was the use of the ball with his feet, but also how he read the game. I saw some games where they were in the opposition box with a corner, and left only one defender back, not two.

“The second defender was Karius. While the defender was marking, Karius came over the top and headed the ball near the halfway line. That’s extreme but something that I thought was very good.

“I hope he can go on to do what I did – and I’m sure he definitely can step up to the next level, which is keeping clean sheets and coming for more crosses.”