It's been 28 years since Liverpool last won the league but there's a growing feeling amongst fans that the time has come to end that drought.

Jurgen Klopp's men have been phenomenal since the turn of 2018 and on Sunday they started the new Premier League season with a bang.

Goals from Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane (2) and Daniel Sturridge earned the Reds a smashing 4-0 win against West Ham and fired them to top of the table.

It's early days, of course, but it's widely believed that if any team can dethrone Manchester City as the champions it's Liverpool.

A big reason for that is the quality of Klopp's squad following a transfer window that saw four top-class players arrive for a combined £170m.

Naby Keita, Fabinho, Xherdan Shaqiri and Alisson Becker all became Liverpool players to reinforce their respective positions.

One area Klopp decided not to bolster, though, was his defence, most likely due to the £75m signing of Virgil van Dijk in January.

KLOPP STICKS WITH DEFENCE

But that decision quickly backfired when Dejan Lovren returned from the World Cup with a pelvis issue, ruling the Croatian out for three weeks.

Joe Gomez partnered Van Dijk at centre-back against West Ham as a result and if truth be told, they were fantastic.

So good, in fact, that Arsenal legend Martin Keown thinks Gomez should retain his position even when Lovren returns, which is exactly what Liverpool fans have been saying.

"I was seriously impressed by the partnership of Joe Gomez and Virgil van Dijk in the centre of Liverpool's defence," wrote Keown.

"There will be few better partnerships in the Premier League this season. I have been arguing for some time that Gomez should be playing in that position and against West Ham he showed why.

"Marko Arnautovic is the sort of player who will cause defenders problems if you don't get on top of him quickly. Liverpool's centre-backs swatted him like a fly.

"There will be bigger tests to come this season but Gomez and Van Dijk purred around the pitch like a pair of Rolls-Royces.

"On Sunday's evidence, Dejan Lovren will find it tough to win back his place. These two have the makings of a great Premier League partnership."

Spot on, Martin. Gomez and Van Dijk were solid and possess all the attributes you'd want from a centre-back partnership.

Strength, speed, height and a good reading of the game - they literally have it all.