BBC Sport pundit Garth Crooks hailed the “sixth sense” of Joe Gomez as he compared the Liverpool defender to two all-time greats for his defending in the derby win over Everton.
A last-minute Divock Origi goal secured a sensational 1-0 win for the Merseyside giants at Anfield on Sunday as they kept up the pressure on Premier League leaders Manchester City.
Crooks explained why Gomez deserves great credit for one memorable piece of defending that he bore comparison with Chelsea and England legends.
“Regular readers will know what I think of Joe Gomez so I won’t waste any more column inches on that. Suffice to say this: How the England centre-back kept the ball out of Liverpool’s net with Allison beaten during Sunday’s game with Everton, I will never know,” Crooks told BBC Sport as he named the centre-back in his Premier League team of the week.
“Gomez is starting to display a sixth sense when it comes to the dangers in and around his own penalty area. Defenders such as Ashley Cole and John Terry had it, and so does this lad.”
OPINION
What a season Gomez is having. It is a measure of important he has become to the team that there were plenty of social media high fives when he was announced as Virgil van Dijk’s central defensive partner against Everton ahead of Dejan Lovren. The Croatian, who had started the previous two matches, did not make the matchday 18 as one can assume he had succumbed to yet another niggling injury or illness. Gomez has none of the Croatian’s flakiness. He is already the superior centre-back, quicker, more astute and with decision-making that owes less to emotion. The 21-year-old England international has ice in his veins, as he showed when keeping the ball out of the net after Andre Gomes’ rebounded header appeared certain to break the deadlock at Anfield. Playing alongside Van Dijk, Gomez has the perfect partner. They are the coolest big-stage defenders since Franco Baresi and Paulo Maldini.