Liverpool attacking options have become a strength this season and Arne Slot won’t mind if it hampers individual aims.
It has become an iconic image of the early days under Arne Slot. But the sight of Mohamed Salah perched arms outstretched on an advertising hoarding in front of the Anfield Road Stand is swiftly gaining competition.
For the sixth time in the last seven games, the Liverpool support has been greeted with a salute from Cody Gakpo after the in-form Holland international had netted another goal.
His latest was arguably his most important of the campaign thus far, sneaking in at the far post to knock Salah’s inviting far-post cross over the line from close range to send the Reds on their way to a resounding 2-0 triumph against champions Manchester City at Anfield on Sunday.
Whether from the bench or as a starter, Gakpo will be expected to make his 100th Liverpool appearance this evening when Arne Slot’s side make the difficult trip to Newcastle United aiming to at the very least maintain their lead at the top of the Premier League.
It says much about the Dutchman’s durability and importance to the squad that since making his debut in January 2023 after arriving from PSV Eindhoven he has missed just four games and failed to emerge from the bench only once.
With eight goals already this season, he is already halfway towards matching his tally for the last campaign, having totalled 31 goals and 11 assists in his Liverpool career to date.
But while Slot has no doubt Gakpo is capable of reaching 20 goals this season as he did in his final full season with PSV, the Reds boss has pointed to a reason he may fall short.
“Unfortunately, I’ve experienced already that he is able to score 20 goals in a season when he played for PSV Eindhoven when I was at Feyenoord Rotterdam,” says Slot. “He scored against us almost every time.
“He was able to score in that league and he’s definitely able to score that many goals here as well, just like Lucho (Luis Diaz), just like Mo (Salah), just like Darwin (Nunez) or Diogo (Jota) – they are all capable of scoring that many goals.
“Now, unfortunately for them, they have so many good players around them that they don’t start every single game because that would help for them to get the numbers even higher.”
At Liverpool, Salah has reached the landmark in each of his seven seasons at the club while Jota scored 21 times in the 2021/22 season. Nunez’s best tally was 18 last term, when Diaz also had his best Reds’ return with 13.
For Slot, though, it is about the position rather than the player. And while the front three have contributed 37 of the 46 goals Liverpool have netted in all competitions this season, the spread across them is much closer than may have been expected.
All of the 13 goals that have been scored by a Reds player operating on the right wing have come from Salah. On the left wing, though, have come 15 goals – eight from Gakpo and seven from Diaz. The latter has also contributed to the nine scored by the central striker, with Jota (four) and Nunez (three) scoring the remainder.
