Goalkeeper Freddie Woodman has said it would be “unreal” to make his first Premier League start for Liverpool against boyhood club Crystal Palace this weekend.
The 29-year-old arrived at Anfield from Championship side Preston North End as third-choice goalkeeper last summer.
With No.1 Alisson Becker sidelined with a muscle problem, Woodman came off the bench to make his first league appearance for Liverpool in their Merseyside derby win over Everton on Sunday following an injury to Giorgi Mamardashvili, who was stretchered off early in the second half with a large wound on his leg.
Despite the magnitude of the occasion, Woodman handled the pressure and was applauded by the Liverpool fans at the full-time whistle after the Reds secured a 2-1 victory thanks to a last gasp winner from captain Virgil van Dijk.
“It’s a little nerve-racking to be honest,” Woodman said.
“But I think the nerves sort of fuel you, to want to do well and not to let people down really. You come on and you think about the eight months that have gone past where you’ve worked every day really for this one moment. When you’re called upon, you just want to be reliable. That’s what it feels like and, to be honest, I was just happy to have to get over the line but then to win it the way we did was incredible.”
Woodman started his career with Newcastle United and made nine appearances for the club before spending time on loan at Hartlepool, Crawley Town, Kilmarnock, Aberdeen, Swansea and Bournemouth. The former England youth international joined Preston in 2022 and made 138 appearances for the club before joining Liverpool on a free transfer last summer.
“It’s tough,” Woodman said. “I am new to this role. When the opportunity came along, I was a bit unsure whether to do it and as a third choice I am still learning on the job. I quickly realized that obviously my game time is going to be limited and that I would probably be called upon for 10, 20 minutes, and when that time comes, I just wanted to be prepared.
“And so the eight months where I’m training, I’m just thinking about those 10 minutes, those 20 minutes where you are nervous, but you can rely on all the preparation that you’ve done, and that’s what I tried to do, really. Being third choice is, from what I’ve seen, it’s more important than what I thought coming in.
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“You are trying to have a relationship with the lads, so like if Dom [Dominik Szoboszlai] wants to do extra free kicks, I want to be there to help him.
If Mo [Mohamed Salah] wants to do extra shooting, I want to be there to help him. So it’s just trying to find a different role within the team and realising how important it is.
“It’s easy here. You know, Mo Salah is coming to you and saying he wants to do extra shooting. It’s every kid’s dream. For me, I’ve watched him over the last seven to eight years and to build a relationship with Robbo [Andy Robertson], Curtis [Jones], Cody [Gakpo], Virgil … I saw these guys last season as superstars.
“And you come in and you realise that they’re just normal blokes and they’re good people and it’s been really nice to build those relationships.”
Woodman, whose father Andy is a former professional goalkeeper, made his debut for Liverpool in a 3-0 Carabao Cup defeat to Crystal Palace earlier the season. And, with Mamardashvili likely to be sidelined for at least two weeks, the lifelong Palace fan could get the chance to line up against his former club once more this weekend.
“It would be unreal, incredible, to get another game in the Premier League and for Liverpool,” Woodman said. “I grew up supporting Palace, I was a ball-boy and played against them in the Carabao Cup [this season].
“Hopefully, I want Giorgi to be fine and then Ali, the best goalkeeper in the world, I want him to come back fit. Listen, we will see what happens on Saturday. I will just go about my stuff this week and prepare as if I am playing.”
