Arne Slot praised Joe Gomez’s ability to make an immediate impact in the Liverpool team after making his first Premier League start in nearly a year.
Gomez struggled with injuries in the backend of the Reds’ 2024/25 campaign but has been available for every matchday squad this season. However, prior to Sunday, he had been limited to starts in the Carabao Cup.
Slot turned to the experienced defender for the game against West Ham United on Sunday, selecting him at right-back in the absence of Conor Bradley and Jeremie Frimpong. Gomez put in an excellent display and did not display any of the rustiness that may have been expected after such a long period away from the starting line-up.
Virgil van Dijk labeled his performance as “outstanding” after the game, and Slot said the ability to seamlessly fit back in is a rare and impressive quality.
“It is a skill set he has that after a long time not playing you can play him again and he just performs as he did,” said the Dutchman.
“That is not easy. I have worked with more than a few players that after a certain amount of time out, it is difficult for them to get to a certain standard.
“It is definitely one of his skill sets. I also think it is really helpful that Dominik Szoboszlai helped him out a lot. He did really well, but he got a lot of help from Dominik as well.”
Joe Gomez
Gomez put in an excellent display in the Premier League win over West Ham (Image: 2025 Izzy Poles - AMA)
However, Gomez’s place in the starting line against Sunderland on Wednesday is not assured, with Slot claiming he, Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak will all have their minutes managed.
“Yesterday we had recovery and after this press conference we are going to train,” said Slot in his pre-match press conference.
“So let’s see how players feel. Florian, for an example, has missed one and a half, two weeks of training, so for him to already play so many minutes was a good thing.
Arne Slot
Slot hinted he may have to make changes against Sunderland
“Joe Gomez is one of them. It was encouraging to see Florian play that well, but it was not the first time he played that well for us.
“For Alex to score his first goal was also very positive. Also a player who could not have played five to 10 minutes more than he played because he told me yesterday that he felt a little bit of cramp coming up already. He’s another player we should see how he does when he trains today.”
Slot added that an assessment will be made on the trio ahead of the Sunderland game, but said it’s unlikely they will all be able to play 90 minutes across the current run of three games in seven days.