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Former Arsenal star heaps praise on Liverpool duo, warns injured Reds star of his place

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By Thomas Hein

Former England and Arsenal defender Martin Keown claims Dejan Lovren will find it difficult to get back into the starting XI at Liverpool.

Keown was participating in a Q&A session for the Daily Mail. And the former defender highlighted the pairing of Joe Gomez and Virgil van Dijk as the most eye-catching aspect of our 4-0 win over West Ham.

“I was seriously impressed by the partnership of Joe Gomez and Virgil van Dijk in the centre of Liverpool’s defence.

“There will be few better partnerships in the Premier League this season.”

Keown further claimed that handling Marko Arnautovic was made to look easy by the Liverpool defenders and had a word of warning for our Croatian defender.

“There will be bigger tests to come this season but Gomez and Van Dijk purred around the pitch like a pair of Rolls-Royces. On Sunday’s evidence, Dejan Lovren will find it tough to win back his place.”

Gomez played a number of games for us atright-back last season but his performance against the Hammers proved that he can do well as a central defender too.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp had also given the young Englishman a vote of confidence ahead of the season.

The German claimed he would not be dipping into the market for another defender due to Gomez’s ability to play in central defence.

Read more: “We’re moving forward”: Liverpool star confident of winning trophies at Anfield

With Lovren recovering from an injury (h/t Liverpoolfc.com), Gomez could be partnering Van Dijk for a good number of games in the coming weeks.