A fresh and uncomfortable dilemma has emerged this week as preparations continue for our Champions League clash with PSV Eindhoven.<\/p>\n
Gomez\u2019s future unclear despite possible start<\/p>\n
Paul Joyce of The Times reports that Joe Gomez is entering a critical stage of his Liverpool career, noting that he has \u201cplayed only 43 minutes in the Premier League this season.\u201d Joyce directly questions: \u201cIf the manager doesn\u2019t trust him to strengthen this defence during an injury crisis, then what exactly is his role at the club?\u201d<\/p>\n
Gomez may be drafted in on Wednesday due to the lack of available defenders, yet Joyce highlights the real concern: \u201cHe could feature against PSV\u2026 but will he actually be rewarded if he performs well?\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a pertinent issue, particularly as the 28-year-old has made just seven appearances across all competitions this season, with only two starts \u2014 both coming in the League Cup.<\/p>\n
Under Jurgen Klopp, Gomez proved capable of playing anywhere across the back line, making his current absence from the Premier League picture even more striking.<\/p>\n
That point was further emphasised when Dominik Szoboszlai and Curtis Jones were preferred at right-back against Nottingham Forest in the absence of Conor Bradley and Jeremie Frimpong.<\/p>\n
Adding to the complexity is the fact that Gomez recently said he is \u201chappy at Liverpool\u201d \u2014 but only when he is playing regularly. Right now, that isn\u2019t happening, and Wednesday may be one of his few opportunities to remind Slot of his value.<\/p>\n
Right-back options under scrutiny after Forest loss<\/p>\n
Calvin Ramsay is another player left frustrated after being overlooked at the weekend.<\/p>\n
His impressive performance in the League Cup win over Crystal Palace \u2014 where Slot described him as \u201ccalm\u201d and showing \u201ccomposure\u201d \u2014 suggested he was edging his way back into contention.<\/p>\n
But neither Ramsay nor Gomez were selected to start against Forest, forcing Szoboszlai into an unfamiliar defensive role instead of operating further forward, where he\u2019s at his best.<\/p>\n
The 3-0 defeat \u2014 only the fourth time a visiting team has won by three or more goals at Anfield in the Premier League era \u2014 has only intensified the scrutiny of Liverpool\u2019s defensive decision-making.<\/p>\n
As we approach the PSV match, this is no longer just a question of rotation. It\u2019s a matter of trust, hierarchy, and whether Gomez truly has a place in Slot\u2019s long-term plans.<\/p>\n
And if he impresses yet still finds himself back on the bench, Joyce\u2019s question will become even more glaring for everyone connected with the club.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A fresh and uncomfortable dilemma has emerged this week as preparations continue for our Champions League clash with PSV Eindhoven. Gomez\u2019s future unclear despite possible start Paul Joyce of The Times reports that Joe Gomez is entering a critical stage of his Liverpool career, noting that he has \u201cplayed only 43 minutes in the Premier …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":55254,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-55253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/EOTK-FeaturedHero-Image-Templates-1-20.jpg.webp","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=55253"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55253\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55255,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55253\/revisions\/55255"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/55254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=55253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=55253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=55253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}