Jurgen Klopp hints Loris Karius could be picked ahead of Simon Mignolet for Porto vs Liverpool

Jurgen Klopp has hinted Loris Karius will be selected in goal for Liverpool's Champions League clash against Porto ahead of Simon Mignolet.

Mignolet started the season as the manager's preferred choice in goal in the Premier League with Karius selected in all of the club's Champions League group stage matches. Klopp decided to name the German shot stopper in his starting XI for the 4-3 league victory over Manchester City on 19 January, later confirming the 24-year-old is now set for an extended run in the first-team.

Mignolet meanwhile has since taken up duties in cup competitions, starting in the 3-2 defeat to West Bromwich Albion in the fourth round of the FA Cup.

As Karius did in the group stages of the competition, the former Sunderland goalkeeper had been expected to come back in for Wednesday's [14 February] Champions League tie against Porto in Lisbon, but Klopp has suggested that rotation policy between the sticks may now have changed.

"To be honest I had not made a final decision but it is not the same situation as it was," Klopp said on his goalkeeping situation, the Guardian report. "A good one will play, but I haven't made the decision so far."

Those comments may not bode well for Mignolet, who has already hit out at the constant rotation between the sticks, describing it as "not a healthy situation for a goalkeeper."

"I always try to stay quiet and calm. In the past I did come back stronger from such situations," he told Belgian publication Sporza last month. "But I must of course also think of my own future. The only thing I can do is focus on my training and do my best. I become 30 years old and the World Cup is coming this summer. This situation cannot take too long, which is clear. I cannot lose any more time."

Both goalkeepers have been named in Liverpool's 25-man travelling squad heading out to the Portuguese capital this afternoon. Eighteen-year-old Ben Woodburn and 19-year-old Kamil Grabara are among that contingent, with Joe Gomez also included after a recent injury.