Klopp should end Liverpool experiment as surprise call may alter Elliott verdict
Going into the Premier League match against Brentford on Sunday, the Liverpool midfielder appears to be making his choice.
Wataru Endō is the obvious candidate to start at six, with Alexis Mac Allister suspended and Curtis Jones injured, and Dominik Szoboszlai and Harvey Elliott the only number eight available after Ryan Gravenberch also had a small problem.
However, Jürgen Klopp decided to go a different route, surprisingly naming Cody Gakpo in midfield and leaving Elliott on the bench.
This may be because the latter played the full 100 minutes in France on Thursday as Liverpool lost 3-2 to Toulouse in the Europa League, while the former was introduced around half an hour before tip-off.
This could also have been adapted to suit this particular opponent – in fact, this is the first time Gakpo has started alongside Diogo Jota, Darwin Núñez and Mohamed Salah since this match in last season, when he made his first appearance in eight games.
Brentford are one of the most physical and direct teams in the league, and it helps that the 6ft 2in Gakpo is more than the relatively light Elliott.
Either way, Klopp’s coldness will make Elliott extremely disappointed.
He has started just one Premier League game all season (and even left the field at half-time against Brighton last month) and he failed to even break into the first team amid a build-up of injuries.
On the surface, Gakpo’s call worked in the sense that Liverpool scored three goals and kept a clean sheet.
But when we dig a little deeper, we see the Dutchman struggled to impact the game.
He ranked eighth among Liverpool players for touches of the ball (41) and completed passes (29) and failed to create a single chance.
It appeared he wasn’t particularly effective on the other side of the ball as he only made one tackle and one interception.
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This was a recurring theme in our limited previews of Gakpo as eight.
The 24-year-old started there in the first two games of the season against Chelsea and Bournemouth, but finished last among Liverpool’s starters for touches of the ball in both games and made the fewest.
more passes than substitute Curtis Jones in the first match.
Even when including Sunday’s match, Gakpo only scored a total of 0.
4 expected goals in the role, showing he is struggling to provide the kind of attacking threat that Klopp There certainly could be.
