Cody Gakpo: Liverpool’s Clutch Performer with Two Quintessential Goal Types

Mohamed Salah continues to be Liverpool‘s main man in attack, but Cody Gakpo has found a knack for scoring important goals for the Reds this season. We look at the Dutchman’s improvement under Arne Slot.

With Chelsea losing at home to Fulham earlier on Boxing Day, Liverpool knew a win at home to struggling Leicester City would see them go seven points clear at the top of the Premier League.

Jordan Ayew gave the visitors a sixth-minute lead at Anfield. “That wasn’t in the script,” said every commentator working on the match, although perhaps they shouldn’t have been all that surprised.

Despite their excellent start under Arne Slot this season, it was the eighth time Liverpool had conceded the opening goal of a game. They have had to use their famous powers of recovery on a few occasions in 2024-25, and they were on show again here.

Liverpool had hit the woodwork twice but ultimately only had one shot on target from nine efforts as they entered first-half stoppage time still behind. Then Gakpo received the ball on the left, cut inside James Justin, and bent his shot into the far corner past Jakub Stolarczyk.

It has become a quintessential Gakpo goal, and not just because of the way he scored. It was also the third time he had drawn Liverpool level in a home league game this season. They went on to secure a 3-1 win against Leicester, giving them a healthy cushion in the Premier League title race with a game still in hand.

The Dutchman bagged his 10th goal of the season, making him the third Liverpool player to reach double figures in all competitions (Mohamed Salah 19, Luis Díaz 11), but it was only his fourth in the Premier League. All four of those goals have been crucial, though.

All of Gakpo’s league goals have come at Anfield, all at the Kop end, and all four came at a time when his team were either a goal down or level.

With Liverpool a goal behind against Brighton & Hove Albion in November with just over 20 minutes remaining, Gakpo received a pass on the left from Virgil van Dijk before cutting inside and bending a ball towards the far post. Whether a cross or shot, it went all the way in to draw his team level, before Mohamed Salah won it for the hosts just two minutes later.

Against Manchester City, Gakpo popped up at the back post to turn in a low cross from Salah to put Slot’s team in front in a huge game in the title race just 12 minutes in. Liverpool went on to win 2-0.

Gakpo made it 1-1 less than two minutes into the second half against Fulham with Liverpool down to 10 men earlier this month. He again got on the end of a Salah cross to head in at the far post.

Then against Leicester on Thursday, two years to the day since it was announced by PSV that Gakpo would be joining Liverpool, he turned up again when his team needed him most. His goal pulled Liverpool level before Curtis Jones and Salah sealed the win in the second half.

It’s not just in the league where Gakpo has come up with clutch moments, though. His other goals this season have included the first two away at Brighton in a 3-2 EFL Cup win, as well as UEFA Champions League goals against tough opponents in Bayer Leverkusen and Real Madrid.

Cutting inside from the left and placing a shot into the far corner has become a regular sight from Gakpo this season, but his instincts for getting joy with runs into the six-yard box could also be seen as a typical Gakpo goal.

As you can see from his goal map for this season, all 10 of his goals have come either from close to the left corner of the penalty area, or in the six-yard box. None of Gakpo’s nine shots within the width of the posts but outside the six-yard box have led to a goal.

He was given Player of the Match against Leicester, and not just because of his goal and his assist for Salah. Despite having Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold on the right, more of Liverpool’s attacks against the team managed by Gakpo’s former PSV boss Ruud van Nistelrooy came down the left (37.2%), with the winger seeing plenty of the ball. He had 50 touches and completed all three of his dribbles.

Despite having 68.5% possession, Liverpool won just five fouls all evening, with Leicester winning 17. In fact, Foxes goalscorer Ayew alone was awarded more fouls (7) than the hosts were in total. Gakpo was one of only two Liverpool players to win free-kicks for his team (along with Alexis Mac Allister – 2), with three in total, showing how much trouble he was giving the visitors when he picked up the ball.

While Liverpool ultimately dominated the game and won relatively comfortably, they did toil for quite a while, resorting extensively to crosses, especially in the first half. They attempted 35 crosses before the break, their most on record in the opening 45 minutes of a Premier League game (since 2003-04). They only completed seven, though, and didn’t score from any of them.

In total, Liverpool attempted 50 crosses, their most in a Premier League game since recording 54 against Blackburn Rovers exactly 13 years prior (26 December 2011), with Gakpo putting in seven of his own on Thursday. Only Alexander-Arnold (17) and Andrew Robertson (12) attempted more crosses.

It was when he decided to take things into his own hands and shoot for goal that he made the difference, though, later saying: “We do practise a lot on the crosses and the shots. They always say practice makes perfect. Obviously, we [went] behind and we had to fight to get level. We got some good opportunities and some good chances and then I got the ball from Macca [Alexis Mac Allister], and I went inside and I saw some free space and I just did what we do in training.”

Liverpool boss Slot acknowledged Gakpo’s equaliser came at a good time for his team, saying: “I think it was crucial to [make it] 1-1 just before half-time because that lifted us up and you could see that immediately in the second half, where we just kept on going with what we did. It was not only helpful for us, but I think it also worked the opposite way for Leicester, they felt like, ‘OK, now it’s going to be tough.’”

The former Feyenoord head coach was also asked at his post-game press conference about the recent impact of Gakpo, adding: “I think the main difference maybe is that the set-up of the front three was a bit different [in the past] than the setup now. We expect a bit from our wingers to keep it wide, to try to get them in one-v-one situations.

“Cody has done this really well. Lucho [Luis Díaz] has done this really well when he played from the left but Lucho is, in our opinion, also capable of playing as a nine; he did that really well against Spurs. Against Spurs it was mainly maybe Lucho and Mo that were dominant, now it was Cody again, together with Mo. It’s just nice to have so many options, in every position actually but also in the front three.”

It has been an interesting development to see Slot use Díaz as the central attacker in moments, given it was Gakpo who played there more often under Jürgen Klopp. Gakpo has almost entirely been used on the left side of the attack this season so far.

Klopp even played him in central midfield on occasion last season, though admitted in February this year that the unfamiliar role hadn’t helped the player find his best form. “Cody had a bit of a struggle in between the seasons, it was more my fault,” Klopp said at the time. “We spoke about can ‘Cody play a midfield position for us?’ Yes, he can in different moments. Is it his position? I would say no.

“The offensive part of the role he can definitely play, but with the defensive things which he was not used to, that cost him a bit of confidence in moments, you could see that.”

He is flying now, though. It was Gakpo’s form in his predominant position on the left for PSV that convinced Liverpool to sign him in January 2023 in the first place, while he also thrived there for the Netherlands at Euro 2024 in the summer, so it is perhaps no surprise to see him doing well there now.

He may have only started 15 games, but no Liverpool player has made as many as Gakpo’s 26 appearances in all competitions this season. Only Salah (34) has more goal involvements for Liverpool than Gakpo’s 14 in all competitions in 2024-25, while only Salah (44) has created more chances from open play for the Reds than Gakpo’s 33.

The Dutchman is also involved in open play shot-ending attacking sequences more often per 90 minutes in all competitions this season (min. 360 minutes played) than any other Liverpool teammate, with his rate of 7.4 per 90 even ahead of Salah (7.0).

Gakpo has 33 goals and 12 assists in 105 games in almost two years with the Merseyside club, and it feels like under Slot, he could well continue to improve and become a key figure in a team that looks likely to challenge for the biggest honours this season.

Liverpool will hope they can get even more joy from passing to the Dutchman on the left-hand side.

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