What a composed performance from Arne Slot’s Liverpool side.
The Merseysiders were, at the time of writing, cruising to a 4-0 win over Kieran McKenna’s well-organised Ipswich Town and showing no sign of a supposedly long-awaited blip coming to fruition.
Trent Alexander-Arnold and Dominik Szoboszlai most certainly deserve serious recognition for the part they played in the latest Anfield demolition job.
However, it shouldn’t be forgotten that one very special Dutchman (no, not Ryan Gravenberch), played a key part in securing the lion’s share of the spoils for the hosts.
What did the stats say about Cody Gakpo?
It’s increasingly difficult to escape the notion that Cody Gakpo is going somewhat under the radar in the 2024/25 season (though perhaps not for Arne Slot).
The former PSV attacker has registered an applaudable 18 goal contributions (14 goals, 4 assists) in 32 games (across all competitions) this term. To put that into perspective, it’s about a goal or assist every 100 minutes (taking into account a total of 1815 minutes played).
To top it all off, the 25-year-old came off at the 68-minute mark with a 9/10 score from Sofascore for his performance against the Tractor Boys.
Gakpo collected 43 touches, scored twice on the day and provided one assist in his time on the pitch, amongst a host of impressive stats:
→ 88% pass success rate (23/26)
→ 1 big chance created
→ 1 key pass
→ 2 shots on target
→ 1/3 dribbles completed
→ 3/8 ground duels won
→ 1/1 aerial duels won
→ Possession lost 11 times
The left side of Liverpool’s attack looks on point
There’s a chance that we’ll need to seriously address the right flank in the summer – certainly so should Mo Salah opt not to extend his current terms (expiring this summer).
That said, with Cody Gakpo and Luis Diaz having firmly locked down the opposing flank, it’s a different story.
With our Colombian international struggling to find the net in recent games (no doubt partly due to his recent positioning), it’s incredibly reassuring to see our No.18 coming up with the goods.
Join our channel of readers on WhatsApp to get the day’s top stories straight to your mobile
