Joe Gomez may not start again for Liverpool this season amid growing new competition in the centre-back position at the club, according to the Echo.
The newspaper claim it will be “difficult” for the England international to get back in the side after Jurgen Klopp revealed he will be back in full training following the international break.
The Echo report it is “unlikely that Klopp would throw Gomez back into the heart of Liverpool’s defence after such a long spell on the sidelines”, especially as Joel Matip and Dejan Lovren are fully fit and available.
OPINION
The main hurdle to Gomez getting back in the Liverpool side is the form of Matip, who has developed a centre-back partnership with the peerless Virgil van Dijk every bit as impressive as the one the English-Dutch alliance in the first half of the campaign. Gomez was outstanding until suffering that lower leg fracture against Burnley in early December and already looks the outstanding central defender in English football. Yet, it could be easier for Gomez to leapfrog John Stone, Harry Maguire and company in the national side than Van Dijk and Matip at Liverpool. Even Lovren has put aside his neverending niggling injuries to achieve full fitness. Klopp is not going to want to break up an imposing partnership that is working, even though many Liverpool fans regard Gomez as the second best centre-back at the club and a more reliable operator than Matip and Lovren. As the Echo report, the 21-year-old is more likely to get in at right-back if Trent Alexander-Arnold is given a breather.