Jurgen Klopp lauds "lifesaver" Joe Gomez as Liverpool reach EFL Cup final
Owing to injuries to Kostas Tsimikas and Andrew Robertson, as well as the decision to send Luke Chambers on loan to Wigan Athletic, the 26-year-old has been thrust into an unfamiliar left-back position over the festive period.
During Wednesday's showdown at Craven Cottage, Robertson made a matchday squad for the first time since dislocating his shoulder in October, but Gomez nevertheless reprised his role on the left-hand side of the rearguard.
The England international — who is yet to score his first senior goal for Liverpool — failed to break his duck with a couple of long-range attempts, but his defensive contributions were invaluable, as he made two blocks, one tackle and two clearances to nullify the Fulham threat.
With Robertson fit again and Trent Alexander-Arnold expected to return from his knee injury in the coming days, Gomez is at risk of reverting to his sporadic role again, but Klopp did not have a bad word to say about the defender in his post-game press conference.
«Without Joe nothing would've happened in the last pretty much 13 [or] 14 weeks since Robbo [Andy Robertson] is out,» Klopp said. «Yes, because he could play there, but the things we could do with Trent [Alexander-Arnold] when we brought Joey on, I don't exactly [know] how many games [he] played now this year, but I would say 20-something already.
»Not only games, [he] played exceptional today again. He's a real defender and he comes inside. He's doing that really well. He tried a couple of times obviously to finish the discussion about not scoring. I
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