ReactionJoe Gomez reflects on Liverpool's defeat at Villa Park
The Reds fell behind to a Morgan Rogers goal just before half-time at Villa Park but levelled through Virgil van Dijk after the break.
However, the hosts moved clear as Ollie Watkins (two) and John McGinn scored, making Van Dijk’s second headed finish in stoppage time futile.
Arne Slot’s men dropped to fifth in the table and are yet to secure a Champions League qualification spot ahead of the final-day clash with Brentford at Anfield.
Gomez spoke to Liverpoolfc.com post-match – read the interview below.
On it being a ‘frustrating and disappointing’ night…
Yeah, in so many ways. We cost ourselves a big opportunity today. We know that. It sums up our year, with it being in our hands and errors that are avoidable at pivotal points in the game where we could have got momentum. At the end of the day, it’s still in our hands [qualifying for the Champions League], the goal remains the same. We’ve just got to do the job next week now.
On Liverpool having control before Villa opened the scoring…
It felt that way, it felt we had control. It’s just frustrating because it’s lapses in concentration. Something that’s highlighted, we know: they’re great at set-pieces. They’ve got a reputation for doing routines and doing things outside the box, and we knew that. We had to be focused.
It’s fine margins in the Premier League and that adds to it [the frustration]. It is what it is now, we can’t sit here and feel sorry for ourselves, we just have to do the job. We know what we have to do next weekend and we have to beat Brentford at home.
On there being a long wait before the final game of the season now…
It’s a long week. Obviously we’ve got a lot of injuries but we’ve got to band together. We know we have to give the supporters something to support in how we play and how we approach the game. Hopefully we end the season on a positive note – that’s the goal. That goal doesn’t change from today and we know what we have to do.