How Slot's Gakpo tweak has kept Liverpool title tilt on track

The Dutchman's fine recent form has gone somewhat under the radar, but he has been key to the Reds building a lead at the Premier League summit.

Photo: IMAGO | Anfield Index

Cody Gakpo is unlikely to top most people’s lists of players to highlight after 10-man Liverpool’s 2-2 draw with Fulham.

Andy Robertson’s early red card most notably offered up an opportunity for Ryan Gravenberch to showcase his remarkable intelligence and versatility as a makeshift centre-back.

Meanwhile, Dominik Szoboszlai’s workrate and a typically assured Joe Gomez performance at left-back have also rightly earned them a large share of the praise.

But the fact is, their efforts would not have been rewarded with an unlikely point were it not for Gakpo doing the hardest thing in football: putting the ball in the back of the net.

And it appears to be going under the radar that he has now managed that on seven occasions in his last 10 outings for Liverpool.

Gakpo’s equaliser against Fulham was a rerun of a now-familiar routine in which he gets on the end of a Mohamed Salah cross at the back post.

But he offered plenty else in an attacking sense on Saturday as Liverpool upset the odds by pinching a draw.