No van Dijk, no problem, Joe Gomez's huge performance against Aston Villa

Leading up to the game against Aston Villa there was great concern from some of our Liverpool fans about the issue of our defense, as Virgil van Dijk missed the game due to being sent off against Newcastle last week, and Ibrahima Konaté was not going to be available due to injury, so we would start this game without our starting defenders.

Also, it had been said during the last week of the transfer window that Liverpool were in search of a central defender, however in the end they did not sign anyone in that position, so the onus for the game against Aston Villa fell on Joel Matip and Joe Gomez, who responded in a great way to get Liverpool's first clean sheet of the season.

Who particularly stood out in this game was Joe Gomez, who last week had been clear that he was Jürgen Klopp's fourth choice for the team's central defense, but perhaps after his performance at Anfield, Klopp should reconsider it, as Gomez signed a spectacular game and the numbers speak for themselves.

In the game against Aston Villa, Joe Gomez had 8 ball recoveries, 5 of 7 duels won, 2 interceptions, 1 clearence and completed 103 of 105 passes he attempted, even generating a scoring chance. Undoubtedly a fantastic performance by Gomez.

The opponent was not easy

The great performance of our Liverpool defense should not be overlooked, as Aston Villa were coming from scoring 15 goals in their last 4 games, something that against our defenders they did not come close to reflecting.