Liverpool put in a statement performance on Sunday afternoon by comfortably dispatching Aston Villa 3-0 at Anfield.
The Reds were dominant throughout, registering 17 shots on goal, creating five big chances and garnering an xG of 2.09 as Villa were unable to live with Jurgen Klopp's rampant front line.
Dominik Szoboszlai opened the scoring with a beautifully controlled left-footed half-volley before Matty Cash was powerless to prevent a Darwin Núñez strike from hitting the post, deflecting off him and rolling into the back of the net.
Despite speculation linking him with a big-money move to Saudi Arabia before the transfer window slammed shut, Mohamed Salah put any speculation to bed by closing the scoring and rounding off a fantastic performance.
While Liverpool's attack drew most of the praise, and rightly so, there were reasons to be optimistic about their defensive shape in the absence of Virgil Van Dijk.
Prior to this match, the Reds were significantly scrutinized for how open they were defensively and without the Dutchman marshalling the back line, many thought Liverpool would struggle to live with Villa's attacking prowess.
But Joe Gomez stepped up to the plate in place of Van Dijk and inspired his side to a clean sheet, restricting Villa to only three shots on target, zero big chances and an xG of 0.69.
How did Joe Gomez play against Aston Villa?
Since joining the club from Charlton Athletic in 2015, Joe Gomez's Liverpool career has been maligned by injury setbacks, defensive mistakes and difficulties in sustaining a regular place in the Reds starting XI.
Although he joined the club eight years ago, the 27-year-old has only gone on to make 111 appearances in the Premier League as the ever-present partnership of Joel Matip and Van Dijk forced Gomez into biding his time for opportunities.
Following Liverpool's 3-0 defeat against Wolves in February, the performance of Gomez was shined under the spotlight for all the wrong reasons as ESPN pundit Steve Nicol branded his display as "horrendous".
He said: "Liverpool started this game just backing off and asking to be ran at. Two-down after 15 minutes. [Joe] Gomez and [Joel] Matip were as a centre-back partnership were absolutely horrendous".
While this was a particularly low point in his career, he was praised highly by Gary Neville earlier on in the season for his imperious display against Manchester City which saw Liverpool beat the reigning champions 1-0 at Anfield.
"That’s my man of the match, Joe Gomez," Neville said on commentary on Sky Sports.
"It could’ve went to James Milner but it’s going to him. He’s been outstanding at right centre-back."
During his time on Merseyside, man-of-the-match performances have been few and far between but having starred in Liverpool's victory on Sunday, Gomez reined in the plaudits from many with journalist Neil Jones labelling his performance as his "best game for Liverpool in a long time."
The £85k per-week titan was near faultless in every aspect of his game, impressing with his defensive capabilities, winning three of his five ground duels, 100% of his aerial duels and making two interceptions, as per Sofascore.
Not only that, but he also showcased his ball-playing ability, completing 95% of his passes while three of his four attempted long balls were accurate.
That aspect in possession was truly outstanding during the game as the Englishman made a mammoth 103 passes and had 121 touches during the encounter.
Having been written off throughout his Liverpool career, imperious performances like these will give supporters hope that the best is still yet to come from Gomez.