Giorgi Mamardashvili Speaks Out After Making Liverpool Debut vs Southampton

Albeit not the perfect night at the office, thanks to goals from Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike, Arne Slot and Liverpool will be pleased they avoided the prospect of penalties with a 2-1 victory over Championship outfit Southampton – and it also marked an important moment in his career as he made his first appearance for the Merseyside-based outfit since joining.

There was plenty to dissect following Liverpool securing passage into the fourth round of the competition: from the extent of Giovanni Leoni’s injury to Ekitike taking to social media to apologise for his bizarre red card. Luckily for the home side, Shea Charles’ goal was merely a bump in the road as Ektike bagged the match-winner in the 85th minute of the encounter.

GIVEMESPORT Key Statistic: Liverpool have won their last six encounters in all competitions by one goal, which is their longest streak of one-goal wins in the club’s entire history.

The reigning champions of the Premier League, led by Slot and his entourage, rang the changes given the nature of the tie – and that resulted in rare opportunities to start for the likes of Trey Nyoni, Rio Ngumoha and Wataru Endo. The aforementioned Mamardasvhili also started between the sticks, but what did the Anfield faithful make of his performance on Tuesday evening?

Anfield Faithful React to Mamardashvili’s Display During Liverpool 2-1 Southampton

Since the summer of 2018, when Alisson Becker joined from Serie A outfit Roma, Liverpool’s goalkeeping situation has been squeaky clean. The Merseysiders, two-time winners of the Premier League, have boasted plenty of solid No.2s but the position of the Brazilian, widely regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in Premier League history, has rarely been tested, has it?

That hasn’t prevented Slot and his entourage from preparing for the future because there will be a time when Alisson inevitably leaves. As proof of that, the club coughed up £29 million on Mamardashvili’s signature; and, after spending last season back at Valencia as part of their agreement, he joined up with the reigning champions this summer.



Alongside Ekitike, Isak, Florian Wirtz and others, the arrival of the Georgian – the first from his nation to play on the red half of Merseyside – was met with very little fanfare. And, in his first start for the club against Will Still-led Southampton in the Carabao Cup, how did he perform?

Taking to Instagram following his debut for his new employers, the 24-year-old claimed it was ‘a special day’ in his career, which started out as emerging through the academy ranks at Dinamo Tbilisi before moving to Valencia in 2021. He wrote: “First official game for Liverpool. A special day, a new chapter and an honour to wear this shirt. Grateful for all the support.”

Although one would assume that Southampton would have very few shots at Liverpool’s goal, the south coast outfit actually took more shots (13) than the Reds’ ten, which meant that Mamardashvili was very busy throughout. He made two saves – one of which was from a shot inside his box – three high claims and had 33 touches of the ball too.

Those of an Anfield persuasion are, therefore, more than pleased with how Mamardashvili kicked off his Liverpool career. Taking to X (formerly Twitter), one wrote: “Mamardashvili looks good as well. I’ll be happy with him as our first choice keeper whenever Alisson leaves.”

“Mamardashvili appreciation post. Great performance, fast distribution, looked commanding throughout and solid shot-stopping. Very, very promising,” another said before insiting Liverpool will be in ‘safe hands’ once Alisson ups and leaves. “Gonna be devastated when Alisson leaves and the vibe is he will return to Brazil at some point but Mamardashvili looks like we’re in safe hands.”

Another supporter of the Reds, who are the current champions of Europe after winning the title in Slot’s maiden campaign, is pleased with Mamardashvili’s willingness to rush off his line. They wrote: “I like how proactive Mamardashvili is, he isn’t leaving anything to chance.”

“Giorgi Mamardashvili and Giovanni Leoni couldn’t have had better debuts for the club tonight, deal with everything what came their way and looked unfazed while doing so. So, so impressive.”

Mamardashvili Stats vs Southampton

Minutes

90

Touches

33

Saves

2

Accurate passes

13/17 (76%)

High claims

3

Diving save

1

Recoveries

12

Aerial duels won (%)

1/1 (100%)

“Final word of the night from me goes to Giorgi Mamardashvili. Solid display, good hands and what a man mountain he is,” another wrote as one believed that his display, albeit against second tier opposition, was not appreciated in the wider picture given Isak and Ekitike scored and took the spotlight. They wrote: “Mamardashvili has gone under the radar, he reads the game good so far.”