Van Dijk hints Matip could miss Leicester City game & praises Gomez

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Liverpool’s defence last night was very poor, with Joe Gomez probably the biggest culprit of the back four.

That said, Virgil van Dijk didn’t have his best night either and for two goals, mistakes by Jordan Henderson and Fabinho were the catalyst.

We missed Joel Matip, who’s been incredible this season, but according to our brilliant Dutchman – he may miss the Leicester City tie on Saturday afternoon.

Van Dijk was keen to praise Gomez, too – but ideally we hope Matip is ready to come back into the back four.

‘It was good to be back alongside Joe,’ Van Dijk told The Athletic.

‘It had been a while since we played together so it’s bound to take some time again. We’re lucky to have four very good centre-backs here.

‘Dejan (Lovren) is also a good option and Joel should be back after the internationals, if not before.’

‘I just think (Liverpool) conceding the first goal gave them belief.

‘We got sloppy as a unit and started giving the ball away.

‘They’re a very good team, pressing-wise, with lots of pace up front and they showed it in the second half. They caused us some problems but the goals could have been avoided.’

Gomez does have superb pace, in fairness, which will be good up against Jamie Vardy, especially considering our high line.

But he needs to do better aerially and positionally when our opponents have attackers in wide areas.

He’s incredibly talented though and we shouldn’t forget just how well he was playing before the nasty injury last season.

That’s the level he’s capable of reaching. He shouldn’t be held accountable for last night’s three goals conceded – but it should be a sign of the level required if we’re to continue winning games at the current rate.

 

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