Ex-Liverpool star urges Arne Slot to make big change in defense vs Aston Villa

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Ex-Liverpool and Aston Villa defender Stephen Warnock has said ahead of the meeting between his former sides at Anfield on Saturday that he wants to see Arne Slot deploy Joe Gomez at right-back. Warnock, a former Liverpool full-back, wants to see Joe Gomez given a chance to start in the side.

“At the moment, if you want to solidify things and make things difficult, I’d play Joe Gomez at right-back just to make them strong defensively and maybe not as much as an attacking team.” Gomez hasn't started a Premier League this season (Image: 2025 Getty Images) Gomez has started just two games this season, both of which have come in the Carabao Cup. The Liverpool head coach was asked ahead of the Villa game whether he would consider playing Gomez at right-back and taking a more defensive approach, to which he replied: “It goes against my beliefs, but I have won games in the past.

Arne Slot said he is reluctant to change his attacking philosophy (Image: Getty Images) “Man City away [last season] maybe went against my beliefs but it was necessary to play it like that in the second half, so I would be more than open to adapt in certain situations. Every game, except apart from Palace in the first half when we could have been two or three nil down and maybe Brentford, I thought we deserved more than we got and we hardly conceded a chance.