Gomez praised after impressive England debut

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Ian Wright believes Joe Gomez’s performance for England against Brazil will help establish him as a central defender in Liverpool’s first team.

South Londoner Gomez, 20, was outstanding on the right of a back three up against Brazilian superstar Neymar in the goalless draw at Wembley.

Speaking as a pundit on ITV, ex-England striker Wright said: “It’s going to be very difficult now for Liverpool to not play him in that position when he can go up against Neymar and mark him very, very well.”

Wright’s former Arsenal and England team-mate Lee Dixon agreed that Gomez had boosted his growing reputation.

Dixon said: “If you have a really bad game against Neymar you’ll get another chance because it’s Neymar.

“But if you play as well as that against him I think you just get a tick against your name because you’ve played against the best player in the world at the moment.

“We know he can do it. Even if he has a bad game now you know he can do it against the top [players], so it’s a massive plus for him.”

Former Charlton defender Gomes was also praised by England boss Gareth Southgate, who was given plenty of food for thought ahead of the World Cup.

Southgate said: “Joe’s performance against top players – I thought all the defending was outstanding, but him in particular to come into a game like that with as little experience, it was a really top performance.”