Gomez believes Liverpool should retain attack policy
Defender Joe Gomez insists Liverpool cannot afford to change their game plan against Roma if they want to secure a place in the Uefa Champions League final next month in Kiev.
Jurgen Klopp’s side take a 5-2 lead into the second leg at the Stadio Olimpico on Wednesday but the Merseyside club will be looking to extend, not defend, that advantage.
“We have shown this season our best form of defence is attack so we will probably just do that again,” said Gomez after Saturday’s goalless draw at home to Stoke City, which saw Liverpool creep closer to securing a top-four finish.
“Obviously we will be wary they have their threats and the two goals they scored will keep us on our toes and we will be defensively aware.
“But I don’t think we can go there and afford to just sit off and try to defend the whole game because that will bring pressure and that is not the type of football we play.
“We want to go there on the front foot and try to add to the goals.”
Roma have already produced one stunning comeback in the last round, recovering from a 4-1 first-leg deficit to knock out Barcelona on away goals and Gomez insist they have to be wary of lightning striking twice.
“That is going to give them confidence that they’ve had a comeback before and they’ve not conceded at home [in this season’s Champions League],” Gomez added.
“They are going to think they can’t concede so we just have to be on the front foot.”
That looming date with destiny appeared to lay heavy on the players as they laboured to a point against the relegation-threatened Potters.
The Premier League’s leading scorer Mohamed Salah for once fluffed his lines by missing a relatively easy one-on-one with goalkeeper Jack Butland in the sixth minute to open the scoring.
Although Liverpool felt they were denied a late penalty when Eric Pieters, who did an excellent job shackling the Egypt international, seemed to handle the ball, the hosts were far from the devastating form they showed against Roma four days earlier.
“As a team we are chasing to get a top-four place and we are all frustrated as a team and our supporters are frustrated, you can hear that,” Gomez said.
“I think it is natural with massive games coming up and the Champions League one is the huge one on everyone’s mind.
“But everyone focuses on one game at a time, and the manager reiterates ‘this is simple and the next game is the most important one’.
“We will try to stick together as a group and try to get through the games with the best results we can.”
Meanwhile, Klopp has backed Salah to win the English Footballer Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year Award tomorrow to add his PFA Players prize he has already won earlier this month.
“If you think he’s the best in the world, write it or say it. He is in outstandingly good shape, in world-class shape, 100 per cent. That’s good,” Klopp said of the forward.
“To be the best in the world you need to do that over a longer period, I think.
“There are a few others who are not too bad.”
I don’t think we can go there and afford to just sit off and try to defend the whole game because that will bring pressure JOE GOMEZ Liverpool defender