Joe Gomez appeared to have won the part after the auditions of pre-season.



The young England international got the nod ahead of Joel Matip to partner Virgil van Dijk for the curtain-raiser against Manchester City at Wembley. Matip’s impact after being introduced off the bench midway through the second half – shoring up the backline and nodding home the equaliser which took the Community Shield to penalties – failed to initially win over Jurgen Klopp.



Gomez, who had endured a testing afternoon in the capital at the hands of Raheem Sterling, kept his place alongside Van Dijk for the Premier League opener against Norwich City at Anfield. It was a tough call and arguably harsh on Matip, who had finished the 2018-19 campaign in the best form of his career. The former Cameroon international was one of the standout performers in the Champions League final triumph over Tottenham.



However, Klopp believed that Gomez was back in peak physical shape...