Liverpool goalkeeper suffers nightmare start to loan after controversial penalty in heavy defeat

Liverpool loanee Harvey Davies suffered a nightmare debut at Crawley Town, conceding a penalty within nine minutes of the start of the new League Two season.

The goalkeeper joined Crawley on a season-long loan at the end of June, in a summer of major overhaul in Liverpool’s goalkeeping ranks. The 21-year-old has trained regularly with Alisson and Co over the last year, but is yet to play a first-team match for the Reds.

And his debut for Crawley didn’t go to plan with the Red Devils losing 3-0 against Grimsby Town on Saturday. A tentative and nervous start set the tone for the visitors at Blundell Park. Davies misjudged the flight of a long pass downfield in the early stages and, after stalling, came flying off his line to retrieve the ball.

While he did claim the ball, Davies also collided with Kieran Green in the box and a slightly controversial penalty was awarded, despite the protests of the Crawley players.

The keeper could do nothing as Jaze Kabia steered the ball into the bottom corner from the spot, nor was he able to get anywhere near a bullet Cameron McJannet header after half an hour.

But Davies will feel disappointed with his attempts to stop Evan Khouri’s strike from distance after the break. Despite getting a hand to it, the on-loan Liverpool man was unable to stop it sliding under his grasp and into the net.

It was another moment to forget on a difficult first outing for Crawley. The three-goal loss means Scott Lindsey’s side sit bottom of the table on the opening weekend of the season.

But there were some positive moments for Davies, who made two smart stops to twice keep out Jayden Sweeney.

Oddly, his goalkeeper’s jersey didn’t feature a Crawley badge and was just a plain blue Adidas shirt with a no.1 located where the club crest usually appears.

The stint at Crawley is Davies’ second loan of his career, having joined Crewe Alexandra for the 2023/24 season.

He is one of three keepers to leave Liverpool this summer, with Caoimhin Kelleher joining Brentford in a permanent switch and Vitezslav signing on loan for Ajax.

In their place, Giorgi Mamardashvili, Freddie Woodman and Armin Pesci are now playing backup to Alisson at Liverpool.

For Davies and Crawley, a home match against Newport County beckons next week.

As for Liverpool’s other loanee in the EFL, Isaac Mabaya played 20 minutes in Wigan Athletic's 3-1 win over Northampton Town.

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