Cody Gakpo Can Carry Liverpool Forward
Cody Gakpo's biggest strength is ball carrying on the left to generate chances. He is finally reaching his PSV Eindhoven form for Liverpool under Arne Slot.
Cody Gakpo has rarely featured in the pages of this newsletter, aside from having scored one of the five best goals since 2017. As he has barely played this season, it isn’t a surprise he hasn’t headlined a post.
Except that he has played. Along with Alexis Mac Allister and Mohamed Salah, the Dutchman is one of just three players to appear in all 10 matches so far this season.
The issue has been a lack of starts, not that this has held Gakpo back. He has made a goal contribution each time he has been in the XI, with two goals plus two assists across the matches with Milan, West Ham and Crystal Palace.
The performance delivered at Selhurst Park by the 25-year-old is worthy of further scrutiny on several levels, both in or out of possession. His most notable impact was the five chances he set up, not least in assisting the only goal of the game.
Gakpo had reached this creative benchmark 12 times in the Eredivisie but this was his first time doing so in the Premier League. Perhaps he is finally ready to deliver his PSV Eindhoven output on a regular basis in England.
The Netherlands international also delivered a trio of both tackles and interceptions last time out, hitting both marks in one match for the first time in his career. For each of these defensive metrics, he was also only one off equalling his respective personal bests. To combine these numbers with a quintet of key passes is a rare feat at the top level of English football.
No other Liverpool player has done it in the Premier League since 2017, with examples from wingers also a rarity. There won’t be many instances which match the filters if you throw any three stats together, but this is a decent combination to put together for a wide forward, especially away from home. If they can create chances in the opposition half while helping out defensively further back, you can’t ask for more.
“I like adapting to different things because that makes a person grow in every aspect of his life… We have to grow, we are forced to grow, we're forced to learn new things.”
CODY GAKPO, via SKY SPORTS
The Reds’ last match contrasted sharply with the corresponding fixture last season for Gakpo. He was a substitute at Palace last December, coming on as the left sided midfielder before finishing the game as the forward on the opposite flank. It was a microcosm of a campaign in which he made starts in four different positions.
While he has recently said he likes adapting to change, neither of the roles he played against the Eagles last season was in a position in which he has thrived in the past. On the left wing he seems to come alive.
Arguably Gakpo’s most eye-catching contribution against Palace in the 1-0 win occurred near the centre-circle though. He brought down a high ball superbly, wriggled into a yard of space then played a gorgeous pass through to Salah. It eventually led to an Opta-defined big chance, one of three that day which featured Cody in the build-up. If aesthetics carried weight, this move deserved to become a goal.
He leads the squad on a pro-rata basis for involvement in golden opportunities in 2024/25, having contributed to 3.1 big chance possession sequences per 90 minutes. For a comparison, Luis Díaz is at 2.6, Diogo Jota 2.5 and Salah 2.4, though they have all delivered across larger sample sizes.
Another positive for Gakpo in 2024/25 is that his new head coach Arne Slot seems to be getting him to deploy his best attribute more frequently. When he signed for Liverpool in the winter of 2022/23, Opta Analyst was quick to point out how the Dutchman was elite for productive ball carrying:
“Since the start of 2021-22, Cody Gakpo's been involved in 81 shots & 18 goals following a ball carry in the Eredivisie. Across the top 5 Euro leagues in this period, only 3 players have been involved in more shots via carries:
Vinícius Jr: 110, Kylian Mbappé: 103, Rafael Leão: 99.
The same publication would later go on to note that only Lamine Yamal (with 15) and Mbappé (11) generated more chances from carries than Gakpo (10) at Euro 2024. His rate across his final 18 months in the Eredivisie equated to 2.4 per 90 minutes, markedly above the 0.6 he averaged in the Premier League when parachuted into a struggling Reds side in 2023.
Even in a better performing outfit, Gakpo averaged 1.2 chance producing carries in the league last season. Small sample size notwithstanding, he’s delivered 2.4 this term, returning to his PSV rate. Only Díaz has a better average for Liverpool, with the Colombian joint-fourth in the Premier League-wide standings overall.
On top of his other great statistics at Selhurst Park, Gakpo carried the ball further than he ever has before for the Reds. Though part of that may have been game state influenced, his general carry data is approaching PSV levels this season.
If that can be maintained, there’s every reason to think his goal contribution rate can too. A fairly low key 1-0 win over Crystal Palace may have seen the rebirth of the Eredivisie Gakpo at Premier League levels.