Jermaine Jenas: Joe Gomez is the right man to partner Virgil van Dijk in Liverpool’s defence

Jermaine Jenas: Joe Gomez is the right man to partner Virgil van Dijk in Liverpool’s defence

The 21-year-old Englishman is already quicker, stronger and more assured than Dejan Lovren.

ALTHOUGH Liverpool’s defence wasn’t really tested by West Ham during the Reds’ 4-0 win at Anfield on Sunday, I thought Joe Gomez made a good claim to be Virgil van Dijk’s long-term central defensive partner.

I already think he’s a better footballer than Dejan Lovren. Physically he’s quicker, stronger, and although there’s a bit of a height difference, van Dijk makes up for that with his aerial dominance.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see Gomez stay there even when Lovren comes back from his stomach injury, while Joel Matip should be next in the pecking order. We saw last year that Klopp likes Gomez, and it was just unfortunate that he had some injury problems, but any time he was fit the manager was trying to squeeze him in.

Gareth Southgate seems to rate him too – he wanted to play him at centre-half in his back three for the Under-21s not so long ago, and it’s easy to see why he now has three senior caps under his belt; he very mobile and good on the ball, which is exactly what you want from a modern centre-half.

It may sound harsh on Lovren, who improved beside van Dijk last season and had a good World Cup, but I don’t see any reason why Gomez won’t keep his place. For me, he’s just a better player, but it’s down to him now to ensure he stays fit.

Indeed, it was difficult not to be impressed by Liverpool as a whole unit against the Hammers. They’ve literally picked up where they left off last season. In fact, they looked better and even more assured in my opinion – I don’t think they would have won that game 4-0 last term, they probably would have given up more chances and maybe conceded one or two.

It was complete domination from start to finish with no real flaws and no one lost control of the game at any stage, their shape was perfect – it was brilliant, to be quite honest.

It’s so important to get off to a good start when there’s extra expectancy placed upon you, and there clearly is more pressure on Liverpool (7/2) as second favourites to Manchester City (8/13) in the title odds.

Last season the expectancy was for them to get in the top four, but towards the end of the season as they built momentum in that Champions League run, it became apparent that this was an emerging side.

Whenever you go and invest a further £179million into an already promising team, of course there will be extra expectancy and pressure to perform. I don’t think for one second that Liverpool’s owners will be telling Jurgen Klopp they’ll settle for second, their transfer dealings suggest they mean serious business.

With the relentless pressure that City put on their title rivals by winning almost every game, you can’t afford to drop many points, but Liverpool’s case for being their strongest challenger kicked-off in emphatic fashion.

Meanwhile, Naby Keita looks like the perfect Klopp player. In many ways, he’s like the missing piece of that midfield jigsaw. He seems to be the only one of his type around, certainly in the Liverpool squad at least. Georginio Wijnaldum is a little bit similar but, to be honest, Keita is a much better version.

He’s almost like a running back in the NFL, that guy who can take the ball from box to box, driving at defenders and the centre-halves. All that’s going to do is create more opportunities for Liverpool’s vibrant front three.

In fact, I don’t think people realise yet just how good he is from an attacking perspective – he’s been labelled as a hard worker, but if you look at his stats in the Bundesliga he’s up there in the dribbles and assists, plus he’s got an eye for goal too.

What I also like about him is that he was willing to be patient, off the field, waiting an extra season in order to get the move he wanted after Klopp identified him as his man. Expect both he and Liverpool to now be rewarded for their patience.

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