Martin Keown heaped praise on Liverpool duo Joe Gomez and Virgil van Dijk for their performances during the 4-0 win over West Ham.
The BBC pundit stated that there will be few better defensive partnerships in the Premier League this season and their understanding could affect Dejan Lovren as he will find it tough to win back his place based on the duo’s latest display.
Keown revealed that he believed Gomez and van Dijk purred around the pitch like a couple of Rolls-Royces on Sunday and kept Marko Arnautovic from having any sort of positive impact on the game.
“I was seriously impressed by the partnership of Joe Gomez and Virgil van Dijk in the centre of Liverpool’s defence,” wrote Keown for the Daily Mail (13:30) during an Q & A for the Daily Mail.
“There will be few better partnerships in the Premier League this season.
“I have been arguing for some time that Gomez should be playing in that position and against West Ham, he showed why.
“Marko Arnautovic is the sort of player who will cause defenders problems if you don’t get on top of him quickly. Liverpool’s centre backs swatted him like a fly.
“There will be bigger tests to come this season but Gomez and Van Dijk purred around the pitch like a pair of Rolls-Royces. On Sunday’s evidence, Dejan Lovren will find it tough to win back his place.
“These two have the makings of a great Premier League partnership.”
OPINION
It seems Keown has been eagerly waiting for Gomez to feature at centre-back for the Reds and was very impressed with what he saw. It seems the former Arsenal player already has high praise for the potential partnership of Gomez and van Dijk despite them hardly being tested by the Hammers in their first Premier League fixture of the season. While both defenders handled what was thrown at them, which was very little, it’s hard to be as convinced about their partnership as Keown until they come up against a side who are firing on all cylinders. While the pundit does allude to bigger tests in their future, it was hard to call the West Ham game a test for them at all as Arnautovic didn’t look his regular self. However it’s hard not to agree that the currently sidelined Lovren, who earns £90,000-a-week at Anfield (Source: Total Sportek), might not be guaranteed a place upon getting fit if Gomez and van Dijk continue to rack up the clean sheets as Jurgen Klopp would have no reason to change a winning formula.
