Liverpool fans on Twitter have been sharing their views on who they want to see partner Virgil van Dijk in defence in Sunday’s showdown with City.
This comes after Liverpool fan account @TheRedmenTV shared a post in which they asked their followers who should play alongside Van Dijk against City. The tweet contained a poll with the options of Joe Gomez and Dejan Lovren for the Liverpool fans to choose from.
This tweet then led to a lot of Liverpool fans stating who they think should play against City, mostly going in the favour of Lovren.
Here’s a sample of Liverpool fans not wanting Gomez to play against City on Sunday:
Lovren for the weekend, Gomez has his first respectable game of the season last night. Gomez takes so long to find form and we can’t afford him to search for it on Sunday
— hobnob (@hobnobpeter) November 6, 2019
If Gomez is gonna make the decisions he did against Genk, then Lovren
— (@ftblmichaeI) November 6, 2019
Gomez is forever out of position, basically next to Trent or 2m from Van Dijk as if he’s too scared to defend by himself
— Lloyrenzo September (@Renzoseptember) November 6, 2019
Gomez was really poor positionally last night, got bailed out a couple times by Trent who was brilliant defensively. Lovren has been solid enough lately.
— David (@sheehan_Lfc) November 6, 2019
Fellow Liverpool centre-half Joel Matip is unavailable for the weekend match as he is sidelined with a knee injury. Gomez has made 10 appearances for Liverpool in all competitions so far this season, with three coming in the Premier League and only one of those League appearances saw the 22-year-old complete a full 90 minutes (per Transfermarkt).
The Englishman’s lack of any sort of consistent form has been a factor in why some Liverpool fans don’t want to see him start on Sunday against City.
Gomez simply out of form sadly
— maximus (@maximusbadger) November 6, 2019
Sadly Lovren. Has it in him to step up a level in bigger games. Gomez seems unsure of himself lately.
— Andy Fuller (@fu113r5) November 6, 2019
Gomez game is a bit off at this point. He seems to drift away from where he should be. Lovren on the other hand has the heart and is the sort of enforcer that can work well with a laid back VVD.
— Shehab Ezzat (@ShehabEzzat) November 6, 2019
What do we think?
With Matip out injured, Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp will have to make a decision on which centre-back should be paired with Van Dijk on Sunday based on who can offer what the team needs to keep City at bay.
When comparing both Gomez and Lovren, in the 2018/19 season, Lovren played 986 minutes in the Premier League compared to Gomez’s 1060 minutes, but despite playing fewer minutes, the Croatian made an average of 3.9 clearances and 1.2 tackles compared to Gomez’s 2.4 and 1.1 respectively (per WhoScored).