ALL SYSTEMS GOMEZ

City may be unbeaten but at Anfield we fear no one, we all believe we can win

LIVERPOOL defender Joe Gomez is not fazed by facing the best team in Britain.

Runaway Premier League leaders Manchester City pitch up at Anfield on Sunday with some of the best attacking talent in Europe.

Earlier this season they stuck five past the Mersey men, but Gomez believes

Pep Guardiola’s table-toppers are set for a

crashing fall this weekend. “I don’t think there’s anyone here who thinks that we can’t beat them,” said the 20-year-old Kop defender (above, with Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp).

“They are doing massive things this season and their run of unbeaten games shows how good they are but I don’t feel anyone is superior to us when they come here.

“It will be a battle of course because they are a top side but we have confidence in ourselves that we can do it.

“We’ve got a lot to play for. It’s very important for us to finish in the top four, especially after the taste of the Champions League we’ve had this season.

“That’s where a club like this aims to be and I think with our manager and the squad we have we can do it.”

Gomez’s rise from obscurity to World Cup hopeful has been startling. He started at Charlton, where academy director Paul Hart – who he describes as a “massive” influence – drafted him into the Under-18s when he was 13.

While others jumped ship to join big clubs early, Gomez bided his time at Charlton until the right offer came along from Liverpool in the summer of 2015.

He had suffered a cruciate knee injury by the time Klopp arrived as successor to Brendan Rodgers but the Liverpool manager’s patience and encouragement is something Gomez will always be grateful for.

“When he came in, I was going through a tough time,” said Gomez. “He didn’t need to look after me the way he did.

“He was always looking after my emotional state rather than continually asking how my rehab was going.

“He has such a good relationship with all the players. He knows when to talk to you, when to leave you alone, and he’s been great for me, especially through the tough times I’ve been through.

“It’s something I’ll always be grateful for.

“Coming here to Liverpool was the right move for me. With their history of fielding young players, it was the place to be, and they’ve not let me down. I can’t give enough thanks to the manager or the club. They’ve been fantastic.”

Gomez has looked a natural at right-back but, at 6ft 2in, he prefers playing at centre-half and, rather than be intimidated by the £75million arrival of Virgil van Dijk, he sees it as an opportunity.

“It’s great for me personally because he’s one of the best in the world right now,” he said of the big Dutchman (below), who scored the winner against Everton on his Kop debut last week. “Long term if I want to play there then it’s a great opportunity for me to learn and see what he does.

“He’s got great attributes and that’s something I can learn from. That’s one of the great things about being at a club like this, you are around top players like him.

He’s a massive presence – not just on the pitch but off it as well.”

Similarly, Gomez is equally mature about the loss of Brazil playmaker Philippe Coutinho, who this week joined Barcelona for £142m.

“Everyone is happy for Phil, we know how good he is, but now it’s about us bouncing back and moving on as a team,” said Gomez.

“No one is dwelling on his departure because we’ve got such a good team here. We know we can keep pushing and keep progressing.”

It is little wonder that Gomez, with his down-toearth upbringing and level head, refuses to look too far ahead even with the World Cup at the end of the season.

He added: “I haven’t really sat down and tried to think about it. I’m still on auto-pilot. I haven’t sat here and thought: ‘I’ve done that, I’ve done this.’

“It’s not a time for me to reflect right now. There’s a lot of season ahead, there’s a game immediately coming up, and I always want to be ready and focused for the next game.”