Joe Gomez is growing in the absence of Virgil van Dijk and getting back to his best

[ASFN Admin]

Joe Gomez has stated that being in the limelight is the part of football he does not enjoy but he will have little choice this season. With Virgil van Dijk sidelined, Liverpool will be relying on Gomez this season as they defend their Premier League title and build on their three wins in Europe without conceding a goal. There was a touch of Van Dijk about him at Stadio di Bergamo when he rolled the ball under his studs as he looked up, picked out Diogo Jota and lofted a 40-yard pass that invited his team-mate to take a touch and score his second goal of the game. It looked similar to that confident figure of Van Dijk stepping out of defence and dictating the direction of the game. Jota took the headlines, which is what happens when a £41million signing scores two goals, and Gomez would have been happy with that. His comments about avoiding the limelight came while discussing last season’s clash with Raheem Sterling, which started on the pitch at Anfield and spilled over to St George’s Park when they met up for England duty. He meets Sterling again on Sunday and all eyes will be on the pair again, almost exactly one year on from the row which led to the Manchester City forward being dropped for a game as punishment and Gomez getting jeered by some England fans.

Continue reading...