Liverpool legend John Barnes has drooled over defensive duo Joe Gomez and Virgil Van Dijk, labelling the Dutchman as the best in the Premier League in his position.
Gomez has been a regular in the England team in their recent games due to the absence of Leicester’s Harry Maguire, and it was his thrown-in that led to the equaliser against Croatia on Sunday – and as a result, Barnes thinks the 21-year-old is one of the most “underrated players” in the top-flight.
He says that the reason why Gomez is so good at the moment is because he is learning from “one of the best defenders in the world” in the shape of Van Dijk, who he thinks is the one player who is playing a big part in the title race with Manchester City.
“[Gomez is] one of the most underrated players in the Premier League. He’s learning from one of the best defenders in the world and keeps improving, game after game,” he said, as quoted by the Independent.
“If England play a back five then he absolutely should be starting for me. The main difference for Liverpool has been defensively, Virgil van Djik coming in last year has massively helped the defence.
“For me Virgil van Dijk is the best defender in the Premier League. He’s the reason why Liverpool are keeping up with Manchester City this season.”
OPINION
Barnes is absolutely spot on here – Gomez has really come of age recently, and that is purely down to him learning from Van Dijk, who is arguably one of the best central defenders in the Premier League. Every pundit will praise him for what a revelation he has been to this Liverpool team, and it seems like Barnes is one of them. Both players deserve all the plaudits, even if stars like Gomez can often go underrated. Defenders often go under the radar due to the emergence of the attacking players, but these two have been more crucial this season than any other player. It is scary to think that Gomez is only 21 – he has demonstrated that he can play against any team no matter how much quality they have. This pairing are only going to get better and better as the season progresses, where by the end, Jurgen Klopp will have to world-class defenders on the books.
