As a manager whose club was consistently competing in the Premier League, the Champions or Europa League and two domestic cups, Jürgen Klopp must have savored the luxury of having a depth player like Takumi Minamino in his squad.
While Minamino’s Premier League career for Liverpool ended up being rather pedestrian, he came alive in the EFL Cup for the Reds, bagging four goals in five Carabao Cup appearances in the 2021-2022 season, including a famous late equalizer against Leicester.
It seems that quickly into his tenure as Liverpool manager, Arne Slot has found his own ace up his sleeve for the EFL Cup–fellow Dutchman Cody Gakpo.
Gakpo thriving in the Cups
While Gakpo has seen far fewer minutes in the Premier League this season (300) compared to his fellow wingers Mohamed Salah (786) and Luis Díaz (538), his Carabao Cup performances for the club have been sensational, already claiming the joint top scorer spot in the competition with a pair of braces against West Ham and Brighton.
Playing the full match against West Ham, the game was, in all likelihood, done and dusted with a 3-1 scoreline in favor of the Reds late into the game, but Gakpo wasn’t taking any chances.
In the 90th minute, Gakpo worked a back-and-forth linkup with Darwin Núñez in West Ham’s box, firing a sensational off-balance hit into the bottom corner at the near post to make it 4-1; but he wasn’t done yet.
Three minutes later, Gakpo shrugged off a challenge from Mohammed Kudus, freeing himself to produce yet another lovely strike, this time a far post dribbler while falling to the ground to increase the lead to 5-1; his efforts earned him Liverpool’s Player of the Match honors.
The score of the game before his brace may classify these goals as ultimately “meaningless,” but the class of the strikes must have done wonders for Gakpo’s confidence heading into the next EFL clash against Brighton.
Cody magic becoming common
While their match against West Ham may not have produced much drama, their meeting with Brighton was filled with it. After a quiet first half that finished 0-0, the game opened up in the second in the blink of an eye, with Gakpo opening the scoring in under a minute after play resumed.
Capitalizing off of a poorly played pass from Brighton keeper Jason Steele, Gakpo received the ball in space and opened into an absolutely sublime strike that not even the most in-form goaltender in the world could save.
Based on his facial expressions and standing still as a statue à la Naby Keïta after the ball went in, it seems that Gakpo even surprised himself with the quality of the strike.
Moments after being involved in a three versus one opportunity that the Reds squandered, Gakpo made no mistakes in the 63rd minute, dribbling the ball into the box himself in another odd-man opportunity, this time punishing the Brighton defense yet again with a clinical strike into the near post to make the game 2-0.
Gakpo was subbed off in the 80th minute, and immediately chaos ensued–goals from Brighton in the 81st and 90th minute and one more from Díaz in the 85th produced a final scoreline of 3-2 for Liverpool; Gakpo’s brace sure wasn’t “meaningless” this time around, earning himself yet another Player of the Match win.
Gakpo’s form in the Carabao Cup has been nothing short of top class, as he continues to thrive in this competition for the Reds.
In their trophy-lifting EFL campaign last season, Gakpo finished with sole position of second place on the top scorers’ list, solidifying himself as one of, if not the best “backup” wingers in England.
Gakpo may not be seeing a bulk of minutes in Liverpool’s quest to dethrone Manchester City as Premier League champions, but make no mistake about it– if Liverpool are to win any sort of double, treble or, may I dare to dream, quadruple– Carabao Cody will certainly play a vital part in it.