‘Regular starter’ – Slot hints Liverpool squad player has won selection battle

Arne Slot hinted Cody Gakpo may have usurped Luis Diaz as the regular starter on the left side of Liverpool’s attack following his devastating display against Brighton.

Gakpo vs Diaz is arguably the closest selection battle in all of Liverpool’s squad. Gakpo was often used out of position by former boss Jurgen Klopp who deployed the Dutchman either at centre-forward or in an advanced midfield role.

Slot has reverted Gakpo to the left wing role he stars in for the Netherlands and the forward provided a reminder of his ruthless he can be in the 3-2 victory over Brighton on Wednesday night.

Gakpo scored a brace, with both goals coming after the winger cut in from the left flank. The first strike saw Gakpo rifle the ball into the far corner, with his second a powerful low drive that whizzed past Jason Steele at the near post.

Speaking post-match, Slot appeared to hint Gakpo may have leapfrogged Luis Diaz to become his go-to option on the left side when all is equal.

“In the second half of last season Cody scored a lot of goals so he’s been a good player for Liverpool for a long time now,” said Slot. “He continues doing that and that’s a good thing.

“For me, he is a regular starter. Not starting every game but he’s started on a regular basis. There is tough competition with Luis Diaz. It’s normal at a club like Liverpool to have two quality players for every position.

“If you look at Joe Gomez and Jarell Quansah, who was unlucky with the goals we conceded, their overall performances I liked and they are in competition with Virgil (van Dijk) and Ibou (Konate).

“We knew it was going to be a difficult game because of their style of play and their recruitment over the past few years. To come away with a win is very pleasing for the long term.”

READ MORE: The key contract details of every Liverpool first-team player: Expiry dates, weekly wages, agents…

Cody Gakpo key to first Arne Slot trophy?

Gakpo’s record in League Cup matches now stands at eight goals in eight appearances. His and Liverpool’s reward for beating Brighton is another trip to the south coast to face Southampton in the quarter-finals.

Liverpool will fancy their chances of making the League Cup the first trophy in the Arne Slot era.

On a night of moderate shocks, Tottenham defeated Manchester City, Newcastle dumped out Chelsea and Aston Villa fell to Crystal Palace.

What’s more, Liverpool drew arguably the weakest team left in the tournament in the form of Southampton. The Saints currently sit bottom of the Premier League having returned a tally of zero wins, one draw and eight defeats in nine matches.

The League Cup quarter-final draw in full is as follows:

• Arsenal vs Crystal Palace
• Newcastle vs Brentford
• Southampton vs Liverpool
• Tottenham vs Manchester United

The ties are scheduled to take place in the middle of the week beginning December 16.

Latest Liverpool news – TAA update / why Reds swerved Amorim

In other news, the arrival of Ruben Amorim at Manchester United is primed to spark a transfer battle with Liverpool.

GiveMeSport state Amorim ‘urgently’ wants a left wing-back signed and Rayan Ait-Nouri of Wolves is being targeted. Ait-Nouri is also on Liverpool’s radar having been identified as a long-term successor to Andy Robertson.

Elsewhere, AS state Trent Alexander-Arnold is the ‘chosen one’ at Real Madrid. Los Blancos will intensify their efforts to lure the right-back to Spain come January 1 if he hasn’t signed a contract extension with Liverpool by that time.

Finally, the reason Liverpool swerved Amorim when appointing a successor to Jurgen Klopp has been revealed.

Per the i newspaper, Liverpool viewed Amorim’s insistence on playing with a back three a ‘deal-breaker.’ Man Utd have no such qualms about operating with that system.

Cody Gakpo (left) vs Luis Diaz (right) this season