Liverpool's Joe Gomez shocked to be in starting line-up

Defender Joe Gomez admits he has been surprised to be included in the Liverpool starting line-up this season.

The England U19 international – who joined Liverpool from Charlton this summer - has been a surprise starter for Brendan Rodgers' side.

He has played at left-back despite being brought up in the youth ranks at Charlton primarily as a central defender.

"To be fair, it probably hasn't really sunk in yet," Gomez told the club website. "I think it will over time, but at the moment I'm just trying to keep going and keep working.

"It's definitely been far more than I expected, to come in and play the first two games. I knew there was a possibility of me going out on loan, but this was the aim – to try to get into the team."

Gomez made 21 appearances for the Addicks last season and he is all too aware of the step up in class from the Championship to the top flight.

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"It's the Premier League and straight away there are different qualities – the tempo is a lot higher," he said.

"I'm adjusting and that's only helping me because I'm still learning. Even in training with the rest of the boys, they're all top-quality players and it helps me to work alongside them."   

Liverpool have started their season with two wins and consecutive clean sheets heading into Monday's game against Arsenal and Gomez is hoping to make his third consecutive start, but he's not getting carried away.

"It's early doors and only two games into a long season, so I know there's still a lot of hard work to be done. I have to keep working hard to try to stay in the team," Gomez said.

"I'm enjoying it and I'm happy to have played – and obviously we've got two good wins, so it's been great so far".

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