Joe Gomez could be gearing up to start only his second Premier League game of the season for Liverpool tomorrow.
The 24-year-old replaced Ibrahima Konate on the bench for The Reds last match against Inter Milan. Konate missed the game through injury.
Thursday’s training photos show that the Frenchman is still absent for Liverpool.
Additionally, and more alarmingly, there was no sign of Virgil Van Dijk during the session at the AXA Training Centre either.
That could mean that Jurgen Klopp is left with just two centre-back options for the visit to Brighton & Hove Albion.
Of course, things could be much worse. In Gomez and Joel Matip Liverpool would have a more than capable partnership.
It may be that Van Dijk was simply managing his sessions after playing a lot of football recently. It’s easy to forget that the 30-year-old is still in the relatively early stages of full recovery from a devastating injury.
Whether that’s the case or not, it could mean that Gomez gets a chance to prove a point to Klopp.
In the shop window
If recent reports are to be believed, Gomez has asked Klopp to allow him to leave this summer (90min).
The centre-back has reportedly grown frustrated with his lack of minutes. He is hoping to play his way back into Gareth Southgate’s England squad.
After missing most of last season with a knee injury, it has been another season of treading water for Gomez.
Amazingly, despite being injured in November of last season, Liverpool’s number 12 managed considerably more Premier League minutes last campaign.
In 2020/21, Gomez played seven games amounting to 590 minutes. This term, he has managed just 106 minutes from five games.
That’s remarkable given that he has managed to stay fit for virtually the whole season so far.
Making the most of it
Klopp is known for rewarding good runs of form with more minutes. If it does transpire that Van Dijk and Konate are missing tomorrow, Gomez must make sure he grasps his chance.
Although Matip has been the regular partner for Virgil this season, his place isn’t completely secure. He has had his own troubles with injury and has often been rotated with Konate.
Konate for his part is two years younger than Gomez and is still learning how to handle the Premier League.
Gomez was Van Dijk’s regular partner when Liverpool swept all before them to win the league in 2020. Klopp is also a big fan of his, he called him ‘incredible’ via liverpoolfc.com as recently as last month.
If he can find anything like that kind of form again, he might still force his way into Klopp’s first-choice eleven again. That can start with a commanding performance in a big game for Liverpool tomorrow.
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