‘Consistently scores goals’ – Carragher heaps praise on Gakpo

Jamie Carragher has singled out one Liverpool player who, in his view, ‘doesn’t get the praise’ that many of his teammates enjoy.

With the goal which gave the Reds a 4-1 lead away to Eintracht Frankfurt on Wednesday night, Cody Gakpo claimed second place outright in the top scorer standing at Anfield for this season, his fourth of the campaign moving him one ahead of Mo Salah.

It also marked the third successive game in which the 26-year-old has found the net, having also bagged against Chelsea and Manchester United either side of the international break.

Carragher praises ‘consistent’ Gakpo

Carragher was keen to praise the Dutchman’s contribution following the win in Germany, which took his overall goal tally for Liverpool to 45 in 140 appearances.

Speaking on CBS Sports Golazo, the former Reds defender said: “I should just mention Gakpo because he probably doesn’t get the praise other players get. He’s not a superstar but he consistently scores goals for Liverpool and he has done since he came to the club.”

Has Gakpo been underappreciated of late?

Amid all the attention which has understandably been centred on summer arrivals Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike and Alexander Isak, and also on Mo Salah amid his unusually barren spell in front of goal, the Dutch winger’s form has perhaps been unfairly overlooked.

It’d be fair to state that his overall performances in recent weeks mightn’t have been show-stopping, but he could plausibly have written his name into folklore with four goals against Man United last Sunday had it not been for the woodwork cruelly denying him three times.

Gakpo also claimed an assist last night with the corner kick from which Virgil van Dijk scored, and an earlier cross set up a decent chance for Conor Bradley, with the 26-year-old creating three ‘big chances’ and playing four key passes against Eintracht (Transfermarkt).

The ultimate currency by which any forward is judged is goals, and in that regard, Liverpool’s number 18 has been delivering consistently in recent games. On current form, it’s more than achievable that he can exceed last season’s tally of 18 in the current campaign.

Earlier this month, Danny Murphy called for the ‘underwhelming’ Dutchman to be dropped from the Reds’ starting XI. That seems highly unlikely to happen any time soon, given the impressive scoring streak that he’s quietly been accumulating.

After the galling FA Cup defeat to Man United two seasons ago, Carragher infamously tweeted that Gakpo ‘plays like the game is in slow motion’, but our former defender has now been firmly won over by the 26-year-old!