Liverpool 'hungrier than ever' to defend Premier League title, insists Gomez

Joe Gomez has insisted that Liverpool are "hungrier than ever" to defend their Premier League title.

Liverpool's form has taken a turn for the worse since they were crowned champions of England for the first time in 30 years on June 25.

Jurgen Klopp's men lost 4-0 at Manchester City the week after their coronation, and were also beaten by Arsenal and held to a draw by Burnley in the final weeks of the season.

The Reds narrowly missed out on the all-time top-flight points record as a result, with suggestions that motivation levels took a dive after the title was wrapped up.

Arsenal got one over on Liverpool again in Saturday's Community Shield final, condemning Klopp's side to a second successive penalty shoot-out loss in the showpiece event at Wembley.

Gomez acknowledges the fact that the Merseyside outfit haven't been at their best since returning from lockdown, but promises they will be "ready" when the 2020-21 campaign kicks off on September 12, with newly-promoted Leeds United set to arrive at Anfield.

“Obviously it was a short break and then we had the restart and then the period when we switched off for a couple of weeks and that was that,” the defender told Liverpool's official website.

“But I think more than anything, the gaffer instils in us that it’s a mental battle more than physical half the time, so we’ll be ready and we have a squad full of quality to rotate when needs be.

“The main thing is, mentally we are ready to go, and I think everyone is hungrier than ever.”

Asked to assess the Reds display against Arsenal over the weekend, Gomez responded: “We created a fair few chances. Obviously we relied on that spark and Mo [Salah] and Taki [Takumi Minamino] provided that. There’s positives to take, as well as things we can work on.

“The positive thing is now we obviously all split up [for international duty], but some will stay at Melwood and work in that short period before we come back for the start of the season to correct those minor details and hopefully be ready when the season starts.”

Gomez added on the importance of squad depth as Liverpool continue to chase major honours across all competitions: “The quality coming off the bench showed that [the manager has the option to make tactical changes] and they brought a real bright spark into the game.

“That’s going to be so important for us this year. We’ve always had such a strong squad but I think now more than ever and hopefully, we can use that and I think everyone will play their part.”