7 months ago
147 Liverpool beat Sheffield United last night to go back to the top of the Premier League table ahead of the weekend fixtures.
Next up for the Reds is a tricky trip to Manchester United, where they lost in the cup just a few weeks ago.
Of course, last night was simply about getting the three points and in the end, Liverpool managed it thanks to two late goals from Alexis Mac Allister and then Cody Gakpo.
Liverpool had found themselves under pressure from Chris Wilder’s Blades, who had equalised through Gus Hamer in the second half.
However, Jurgen Klopp was able to draw on a number of big names off the subs bench. And in the end, a few of those subs combined to get Liverpool over the line.
Neil Mellor surprised by how sharp one Liverpool sub was v Sheffield United
On the night, the big changes that swayed the game for Klopp and Liverpool were the introductions of Andy Robertson, Cody Gakpo and Harvey Elliott.
All three influenced the game massively as they added a new intensity to the game for the Reds.
In the end, Gakpo got his goal from a well-placed Robertson cross.
And speaking about the Dutch forward for the official Liverpool podcast, former Red Neil Mellor admitted that he was pretty shocked by just how good Gakpo looked.
“I thought he looked sharp and I was surprised as just how sharp he looked you know. As a player when he’s not playing you think will he have that sharpness but subs again, they did great. Andy Robertson, Harvey Elliott was magnificent as well so really good to see the subs get involved and that was them linking up, Andy Robertson to Gakpo,” Mellor said.
“Cody Gakpo is a player who can play all over. We’ve seen that, as a number nine, an eight, wide. As a player he’s challenged because he knows he’s not starting every week so he’s got to have that mindset to show he’s not going to sulk and prove he can come in and contribute and he’s done that again. And he will be needed again this season.”
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While the likes of Mo Salah, Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz will get more plaudits from the Liverpool fans and onlooking pundits, you can’t overlook Gakpo’s impact.
Every squad needs players who can come in during certain games or off the bench and produce.
£45m signing Gakpo does that for Liverpool and he has scored 14 goals in all competitions this season. Most forwards in the league would take that for a return, so he has nothing to be ashamed of this term.
With a busy run-in and Liverpool fighting hard, Mellor is right in that Gakpo will be needed again.
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