Who is Freddie Woodman? Liverpool goalkeeper set for surprise chance amid new injury crisis

Freddie Woodman looks set to make his first Premier League start for Liverpool against Crystal Palace, with the Reds' third-choice goalkeeper having been called into action against Everton

Freddie Woodman looks set for a first league start for Liverpool against Crystal Palace(Image: Getty Images)

Freddie Woodman looks set for an opportunity even he might not have imagined when he joined Liverpool last summer.

The Reds’ third-choice goalkeeper is set to make his first Premier League start for the club against Crystal Palace this weekend, having been brought off the bench during Sunday’s Merseyside derby against Everton.

Woodman was called upon after Giorgi Mamardashvili had to be stretchered off following a collision as Beto equalized for the Toffees. Now, with Mamardashvili ruled out for at least the next couple of weeks, and Alisson still working his way back from a hamstring problem, Woodman could get his big chance against his childhood club.

The 29-year-old was signed by Liverpool last summer to act as backup to Alisson and Mamardashvili, with Caoimhin Kelleher having already departed for Brentford, and fellow goalkeepers Vitezslav Jaros and Harvey Davies having headed out on loan.

Woodman had made just one previous appearance for the Reds before coming off the bench at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, having started the 3-0 Carabao Cup defeat to Palace back in October, and his first league start for the club looks set to come against the same club.

Who is Freddie Woodman?

Woodman was picked up by Crystal Palace as a young boy, and spent more than a decade in the Selhurst Park club's academy before joining Newcastle in 2013.

The former England Under-21 international was on Newcastle's books for eight years but made just nine senior appearances for the Magpies, spending much of his time out on loan.

Woodman played for Crawley, Kilmarnock, Aberdeen, Swansea and Bournemouth, before leaving Newcastle to join Preston on a permanent deal in 2022.

One of Woodman's nine appearances for Newcastle came against Manchester United in 2021, when Cristiano Ronaldo was making his second debut for the club.

The Magpies lost that game 4-1, with Ronaldo scoring twice, and Woodman faced criticism for his performance, which he opened up about in an interview with The Times in 2023.

“I thought the criticism was fair,” Woodman said. “It will always be remembered as Ronaldo’s first game back and dealing with it afterwards was difficult.

“It was the first time I’d been thrown into the Premier League and you cannot get away from a mistake you have made at Old Trafford with the most talked-about player in the world. You open your phone, it’s there. You look at Sky Sports, it’s there.

Woodman had a game to forget against Manchester United(Image: 2021 Getty Images)

“My dad tried to help me in a jokey way. He said, ‘Ronaldo’s first game back and you are the one who gives him the two goals.’ I had my friends saying, ‘You have just given Ronaldo a load of points on fantasy football.’

“I feel I am a better person for it now. If I had not tried to learn from that game and the games I had in the Premier League, then that would have been a waste.

“I couldn’t believe the standard, especially the strikers. Always putting the ball in a position where it was difficult to save. Before I would have said they were good players. Now I think they are fantastic players.”

An original version of this article was first published on June 27, 2025.