Graeme Souness believes Cody Gakpo finally ‘looked like a Liverpool player’ while the Reds beat Manchester United 7-0. Now, he wants the forward to kick on from the performance.
Liverpool thrashed their rivals in the Premier League last Sunday to move up to fifth in the table. Gakpo (43’, 50’) broke the deadlock at Anfield and hit home again right after Darwin Nunez (47’, 75’) struck. Mohamed Salah (66’, 83’) and Roberto Firmino (88’) also hit home.
The result also firmly thrust Liverpool back into a favourable position in the race to qualify for the Champions League. While Jurgen Klopp’s side sit three points back from Tottenham Hotspur in fourth, the Merseysiders have one game in hand and a superior goal difference.
Cody Gakpo has helped Liverpool to re-emerge in the race to finish in the top four
Newcastle United also hold two games in hand over Spurs and sit just four points off them. While Brighton & Hove Albion have three games in hand which may launch the Seagulls up from eighth place. The south coast side only trail Tottenham in fourth by just seven points.
Gakpo has contributed to Liverpool’s re-emergence as a threat in the Premier League race to qualify for the Champions League. The 14-cap Netherlands international scored his first English top-flight goal to help beat Everton 2-0. He also scored as they beat Newcastle 2-0.
Liverpool had failed to win their first four games in 2023 after agreeing on a deal with PSV Eindhoven for Gakpo. But since the €40m (£35m), rising to €50m (£44m), January signing scored his first goal for the Anfield natives, Klopp’s squad have won four and drawn once.
What has Graeme Souness said about Cody Gakpo after beating Manchester United?
Gakpo delivering a largely indifferent performance as Liverpool drew 0-0 at Crystal Palace saw Klopp bench the striker-cum-winger against Wolves. He made a telling impact in the lead-up to the Reds’ second goal off the bench, though, and returned to start last Sunday.
Souness feels Gakpo showed against Manchester United that he can be a ‘Liverpool player’ after scoring twice. But the Reds icon now challenges the £120k-a-week star to prove that he can maintain those levels. The Anfield natives will visit AFC Bournemouth this Saturday.
“I don’t want United’s ineptitude to obscure assessment of a Liverpool team who played extremely well,” Souness wrote in his column for the Daily Mail. “Cody Gakpo looked like a Liverpool player. This should be the catalyst for him to say: ‘I belong at this level.’”
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