'Jurgen Klopp may have to give Joe Gomez a run at centre-back' says ex-Liverpool striker John Aldridge

Former Liverpool striker John Aldridge has urged Jurgen Klopp to change the Reds' approach in away fixtures and urged him to play Joe Gomez alongside Joel Matip in the centre-back position.

The Reds suffered a 4-1 defeat at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley on Sunday (22 October) as Dejan Lovren's errors allowed Spurs to take a two-goal lead early on in the game. The former Southampton centre-back was withdrawn in the 31st minute and was replaced by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Gomez, who was playing as a full-back, was moved into the centre-back position against Spurs for the rest of the match.

Following that performance, Aldridge has urged Klopp to drop Lovren and play 20-year-old Gomez in the upcoming fixtures.

"I think Dejan Lovren looks shot to bits after his early substitution. He's struggling and has been for a while," Aldridge told the Liverpool Echo.

"Jurgen Klopp may have to give Joe Gomez a run at centre-back. He's got quality, so let's see what he can do. With Lovren, Klopp may need to say 'take a back seat, work hard in training and see if you can come back to the defender we know you can be'."

The Merseyside club have managed to win only one of their five away matches in the league this season. Their only win came against Leicester City as Liverpool managed a narrow 3-2 victory over the Foxes at the King Power Stadium.

Out of those five matches, the former Borussia Dortmund manager has seen his side concede 15 goals, while managing to score only eight.

Liverpool have the same approach for home and away fixtures, and Aldridge has advised Klopp to alter his tactics after claiming that Liverpool lack leaders in their back-four to organise their defence.

"15 goals conceded away from home tells its own story. Three at Watford, five at Man City, four at Spurs. We even had to score three to win at Leicester," he said.

"The question now is do we need a change of approach in how we play in away games? At the moment, we play away pretty much the same way we play at home and sometimes you can't get away with that.

"We're not a good defensive team, we don't operate as a unit and the communication simply isn't there. You don't see them talking to each other. There's no Jamie Carragher or Sam Hyypia who's organising people, remonstrating with them to get into position."