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Slot must boldly upgrade on 6/10 Liverpool star this month

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Liverpool go marching on in the Premier League, after a thumping 4-1 thrashing at home to the struggling Ipswich Town. A dominant first-half performance from Arne Slot’s side set them on course for victory, and they solidified that in the second half, picking up another three points after a commanding display.

Dominil Szoboszlai opened the scoring early on for the Reds, picking up the ball in the right half-space after a smart pass between the lines from Ibrahima Konate. The Hungarian midfielder shifted the ball on his left foot before firing home into the right-hand corner from outside of the area, to give his side the lead.

It will come as no surprise that Liverpool‘s second came from the boot of Mohamed Salah. He now has an outrageous 40 goals and assists in all competitions this season, with his latest coming from a cross by Cody Gakpo. Salah got on the end of the pass at the back post, took a touch and fired home.

Gakpo got himself on the scoresheet twice, scoring Liverpool’s third just before halftime and then adding a fourth just past the hour mark. A late goal from Jacob Greaves, assisted by new signing Julio Enciso, came too late for Ipswich.

It was a brilliant performance from the Reds, led superbly by Gakpo.

Gakpo’s performance vs. Ipswich

Before the game against Ipswich at Anfield, Gakpo had 12 goals and four assists in 31 games in all competitions for Liverpool. He can now add two goals and an assist to that tally after a stellar performance.

His first goal was fairly simple, a tap-in after the ball was parried away by Tractor Boys goalkeeper Christian Walton. His second showed great centre-forward instinct, getting on the end of a Trent Alexander-Arnold cross and heading home to double his personal tally.

His impressive showing earned Gakpo a 9/10 rating from Liverpool World journalist Will Rooney. The journalist described him as ‘rampant’ against Kieran McKenna’s side, explaining he was met with a standing ovation upon being substituted.

Chalkboard FFC

The Dutchman’s stats from the game, courtesy of Sofascore

, highlighted exactly why the Liverpool fans were on their feet for his performance.

He completed 88% of his passes, created one chance and completed two out of three dribbles. It was a brilliant showing, aside from his two goals and assist.

Gakpo

As good as Gakpo played against Ipswich, the same cannot be said for Luis Diaz, who struggled at Anfield on Saturday afternoon.

Diaz’s stats vs. Ipswich

It was a tough day at the office for Colombian attacker Diaz. Tasked with leading the line against McKenna’s side, the Liverpool number seven did not really have much of an impact on proceedings, despite playing as a centre-forward.

Luis Diaz for Liverpool

He received a rating of just 6/10 from Rooney, who explained that he was ‘fairly quiet for much of the first half’. Although he explained Diaz did improve after half-time, he simply ‘couldn’t impact things as he’d have liked’.

The stats show that he was fairly quiet against the East Anglian outfit even though his side managed to put four past their opponents. Diaz had 46 touches and won just five out of 15 duels. He lost possession 14 times and failed to have a shot.

Diaz stats vs. Ipswich

Stat

Number

Touches

46

Pass accuracy

81%

Passes completed

26/32

Dribbles completed

4/8

Duels won

5/15

Number of times possession lost

14

Shots

0

Stats from Sofascore

With Liverpool supposedly targeting a move for Borussia Dortmund winger Jamie Gittens, according to Christian Falk, could time be running out for Diaz after performances like this?

They are reportedly considering a move for the Englishman in the summer, but maybe Slot will decide to hurry proceedings up and try and get a deal done this month. Equally, the addition of a new centre-forward to oust Diaz from his false nine berth could also be on the agenda, with an upgrade in that role still seemingly needed.

Dortmund-Jamie-Gittens

Regardless, it was a disappointing performance from the Colombian on a day when the rest of his side, particularly Gakpo, performed so well.

Slot, meanwhile, will be especially happy with the Dutchman’s double, as the Reds look to maintain this momentum in the Champions League on Wednesday.

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2025-01-25 20:45:12

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