Liverpool had one ‘really special’ player prove everyone wrong against Crystal Palace in the match today.
Things don’t quite get easier for Jurgen Klopp at this moment in time. The Liverpool manager had a difficult task lifting his team after two winless games on the bounce. But now that’s turned to three.
And the next game is one where Liverpool have a mountain to climb, having to travel to Bergamo to face Atalanta with a three goal deficit.
Today’s defeat to Crystal Palace felt like a hangover from that 3-0 defeat to Atalanta in the midweek fixture. Liverpool were simply poor and didn’t deserve to win, even though they created plenty of chances.
The reality is that while Liverpool created a lot, and were toothless in front of goal, they also conceded a lot of chances. Palace found it too easy to break down Liverpool’s defence time and time again.
But while this was a bitterly disappointing result for Liverpool, there was one player who can hold his head high.
Why Cody Gakpo proved everyone wrong against Crystal Palace today
If there was one positive to take from that game against Crystal Palace for Liverpool today, it will have been the impact Cody Gakpo made from the bench.
Gakpo has been the subject of a lot of unfair criticism over the last few weeks and months, but he’s actually a really valuable player in Jurgen Klopp’s squad.
He showed that against Palace. Coming on in the 66th minute, Gakpo came on to replace Luis Diaz and was able to play in his preferred left-wing position.
That’s somewhere we haven’t really seen Gakpo play that often this season. Klopp has preferred to use him in more central roles.Most often he has played as a forward, and sometimes even dropped back into midfield.
But today, in his preferred position, Gakpo was brilliant and proved a lot of his critics wrong. He not only created a golden chance for Curtis Jones but was also very active and played with a sense of urgency that was lacking from the rest of Liverpool’s attack.
Cody Gakpo’s numbers against Palace and why he is ‘really special’
In total, Cody Gakpo has 18 goal contributions for Liverpool this season, which is a really solid return from the Dutchman.
Jurgen Klopp said after Liverpool’s game against West Ham this season, Gakpo is ‘really special.’ And the numbers and his performance today definitely proved that.
In just 24 minutes, according to Fotmob, Gakpo completed the most dribbles (3) on the pitch. He also created two chances and won four out of his five duels.
That’s a great cameo, and it’s his second brilliant cameo in a row after he also caught the eye against Atalanta.