England U19s’ defender Joe Gomez to get Reds chance

Liverpool continued their 100% start to pre-season with a 2-1 victory over Brisbane Roar in Australia this morning thanks to goals from Adam Lallana and James Milner.

Brisbane were not about to play stooges, however, and opened the scoring in the 17th minute when Dimitri Petratos took two touches on the edge of the box before drilling the ball inside the post.

Milner is among a clutch of new signings as Liverpool look to rebuild their squad after a poor Premier League showing. Rodgers is the one who can tell us this and more, and thankfully, Liverpool fans now know the club’s defensive plans in mid-July after Rodgers praised “young Gomez” before revealing that Liverpool’s centre back collection will remain as it is.

Gomez moved from Charlton Athletic last month after the Reds triggered the £3.5million release clause in his contract with the Championship side.

“We’re only 12 days into pre-season but the quality of the work in the training and in the games has been exceptional,” he said. “I’ve seen enough in this period in which you judge young players”.

“And there are still a number of players to come in as well so it is exciting times”.

With Real Madrid, AS Roma and Manchester City on Australian soil for the global Champions Cup, Liverpool weren’t to be left out and have travelled to Australia at the same time for a pre-season tour of Asia.

“James Milner’s a class act”, manager Brendan Rodgers said.

“I think when it comes to football nobody puts more pressure on myself than me”.

The England Under-19 international’s versatility is a trait that attracted the Merseysiders to him in the first place, as he can play anywhere across the back-four and Rodgers has been impressed with what he’s seen of Gomez.

The game will be played in front a sell-out crowd at Suncorp Stadium and will be a first in charge of Roar for new coach John Aloisi since he landed the job.

In the list below, we profile five young Reds’ who will be hoping to make their mark this coming season and discuss where and when they might get an opportunity to prove themselves. “He’s going to be huge for us and working close at hand with him I can see why he’s regarded as a top-class professional”.

He said, “He’s staying”.