Liverpool fans were reminded of the quality of Joe Gomez this midweek as the club’s longest-serving player delivered a strong performance against Chelsea.

A few lax moments early in the game aside, Gomez grew into the match, and ultimately topped it off with an excellent penalty during the shootout. Supporters could not hide their joy in seeing the 29-year-old finally score in front of the Kop, even if it will not officially go down as a goal.

Gomez is a genuine option at left-back for Liverpool

A big part of Gomez’s usefulness to Liverpool over the years has been his ability to play in different positions across the back line.

Right and centre-back may be his favoured roles, but the No. 2 also has an impressive history at left-back, as he showed most notably during the 2023/24 campaign.

With Andy Robertson struggling with injury for the first time in his Liverpool career, Gomez became Jurgen Klopp’s first-choice left-back during his final season at Anfield. Having made 51 appearances throughout the campaign, it remains his best season in terms of minutes on the pitch.

According to data from Transfermarkt, Gomez has played 33 matches at left-back during his career, registering two assists. He has featured much more at both centre-back and right-back, but with Kostas Tsimikas and Milos Kerkez failing to convince, Iraola could use Gomez’s steadiness in the back line against Arsenal.

Gomez should start against Arsenal

Mikel Arteta has been one of the biggest proponents of playing centre-backs at full-back in recent seasons, and as the Basque comes to Anfield once again, Liverpool should take a leaf out of his book.

Araujo is a case in point of exactly how this can work to solidify a defence, and Gomez is a player of a very similar profile. A back four of Araujo, Jeremy Jacquet, Virgil van Dijk and Gomez certainly has a strong look to it.

Perhaps the biggest argument for playing Gomez against Arsenal is the form of both Tsimikas and Kerkez, however.

Tsimikas delivered another poor performance in midweek, struggling to link up with Rio Ngumoha before blazing a potentially winning penalty over the bar.

Kerkez has been in mixed form as well, and though both would offer more thrust going forward than Gomez, could either really be relied upon defensively. With Arsenal struggling for options in wide forward areas, some will believe that the presence of a more defensive-minded full-back is not especially necessary. However, the Gunners are still dangerous, and neither Kerkez nor Tsimikas have shown that they are dependable in the biggest of games for Liverpool.

Gomez certainly has, and though he should not be seen as a long-term left-back for the Reds, there is a strong argument that for Sunday, he might just be the ideal candidate.