Joe Gomez red-faced after horror Liverpool back-pass gifts Leeds goal

Joe Gomez’s hopes of a late push for Gareth Southgate’s England World Cup squad were dealt a hammer blow at Anfield when the defender gifted Leeds a remarkable opener inside four minutes. The jet-heeled centre-back did well to cover ground on the right flank before playing a blind pass back to his goalkeeper Alisson.

Having failed to check the positioning of his No 1, the ball rolled fortuitously across the face of goal – missing a panicked Alisson – allowing Rodrigo to tap into an open net.

Liverpool have a knack of conceding first in the Premier League this season as the worrying streak continued for the Reds.

After Chelsea lost 4-1 at Brighton, this was the perfect opportunity to eat up some ground on their fellow top-four rivals.

Gomez had actually started the game strongly, playing some excellent forward passes to Trent Alexander-Arnold in the right flank.

But his evening took an unexpected early twist as the England international’s difficult season continues.

He was torn apart in Naples in the 4-1 Champions League defeat and also endured a difficult afternoon last weekend in the defeat to Nottingham Forest.

There have been some promising moments too, though. It was Gomez that managed to keep Erling Haaland quiet two weeks ago when Manchester City were beaten 1-0 by Liverpool at Anfield.

Jurgen Klopp’s side responded well against Leeds as Mohamed Salah levelled things up by tapping home at the back post from an Andy Robertson delivery.

Gomez did not seem to let the mistake bother him or impact his game though as he continued to play forward with confidence.

It’s been a rollercoaster ride for the former Charlton man in recent years having formed a stellar partnership with Virgil van Dijk to fire Liverpool to their first-ever Premier League title in 2019/20.

He then picked up a serious knee injury the following November that would rule him out until September 2021.

Now Gomez is hoping to restore his reputation as part of Liverpool’s first-choice centre-back pairing as Joel Matip and Ibrahima Konate continue to battle injuries.