Cody Gakpo finally got off the mark for Liverpool in their win over Everton on Monday night as a tactical tweak helped him emulate Virgil van Dijk.
Gakpo had endured a sluggish start since his £40million transfer from PSV Eindhoven at the start of January, with no goals or assists coming in his opening six games for the club. His arrival at Liverpool has coincided with a poor run for Jurgen Klopp’s team, but they may have put that behind them against Everton.
Mohamed Salah opened the scoring by tapping in Darwin Nunez’s cross on a counter-attack before Trent Alexander-Arnold – and a mistake by Conor Coady – put the second goal on a plate for Gakpo just after the break. Liverpool secured a 2-0 win to record their first Premier League victory of 2023.
