Liverpool vs Man United outcome is in hands of two Premier League novices
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Giorgi Mamardashvili is poised to make his home debut in the Premier League for Liverpool against Manchester United on SundayFew Premier League fixtures can define careers quite as readily as when Liverpool and Manchester United do battle. As anyone who steps in between the sticks will readily agree, the margin between fame and infamy is often slight.Both Liverpool and United have been blessed with quality goalkeepers throughout the Premier League era, the Reds having boasted Pepe Reina and current number one Alisson Becker while down the other end of the East Lancs Road the names of Peter Schmeichel, Edwin van der Sar and David de Gea remain revered.READ MORE: Milos Kerkez makes 'tough' Liverpool admission and explains what he has seen in trainingREAD MORE: Liverpool striker can't stop scoring as 15-year-old helps deliver Man City blowThe heavyweight clash, then, is an opportunity for those wearing the gloves to take centre stage.
However, never before has the showdown seen two keepers line up so wet behind the ears in Premier League terms.For United, Senne Lammens - the 23-year-old Belgian recently snapped up from Antwerp for £18million - made his first top-flight outing when starting the 2-0 home win over Sunderland a fortnight ago.And a few hours later, Liverpool's £29m summer arrival Giorgi Mamardashvili was handed a debut Premier League appearance in the dramatic 2-1 defeat at Chelsea.Having already started the League Cup win over Southampton and replaced the stricken Alisson during the second half of the Champions League loss at Galatasaray, Mamardsahvili was at least not entirely unaccustomed to playing for the Reds.Indeed, the 25-year-old had no chance with either Chelsea goal and made a handful of decent saves to keep Arne Slot's side in the game as they slumped to a third successive defeat for the first time in the Dutchman's tenure.Unlike many of his Liverpool colleagues, Mamardashvili endured a difficult recent international break with Georgia beaten 2-0 in Spain before being thumped 4-1 in Turkey to leave their World Cup qualification hopes hanging by a thread. He has lost the last four games in which he has featured.The visit of United, though, will be an even greater occasion, Mamardashvili becoming only the 12th Liverpool goalkeeper to play in the fixture during the Premier League era in all competitions, a total of 76 games.However, he is used to big games from his time playing for Valencia in Spain and representing Georgia at last summer's European Championships.
He was man of the match at the Bernabeu earlier this year when saving a penalty from Vinicius Jnr in a 2-1 triumph over Real Madrid."We knew we were bringing in a very good goalkeeper, but when he plays his first game, that's always the best way of seeing that he's adjusted well or not," said Reds boss Slot earlier this month."He's adjusted really well to our club, which is not a surprise because he's a quality goalkeeper."With no timescale set for the return of Alisson from a hamstring injury, Mamardashvili is poised to keep his place during a pivotal spell of seven games in 22 days, which also includes Champions League matches at Eintracht Frankfurt and against Real Madrid at Anfield, along with a Premier League trip to Manchester City."I have had to be patient," said Mamardashvili last month. Learn moreFanatics has slashed the price of Liverpool kits and merch with more than 50% off select items.