Steve Nicol has suggested that one Liverpool player looked ‘tired’ and ‘heavy-legged’ during the 3-0 win over Southampton on Wednesday night.
The FA Cup clash will live long in the memory for Lewis Koumas and Jayden Danns, both of whom scored their first senior goals (with the latter helping himself to two), although it was a frustrating match for Cody Gakpo.
The 24-year-old was a comparative veteran in a very youthful Reds line-up but was unable to get any of his four shots on target (Sofascore), missing two good chances during the first half.
Speaking on ESPN FC after the game, Nicol said of the Dutchman: “He looked tired. He looked heavy-legged, to be honest. I said that Danns had shown him the way to go with a little dink.
“I think at the same time, if you are heavy-legged, then you’re not thinking clearly and that affects every single thing you do. I thought Gakpo looked tired tonight.”
With respect to Liverpool’s number 18, he played the entirety of the 4-1 win at Luton eight days ago and the FA Cup clash last night, while also featuring for 87 minutes in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley on Sunday (Transfermarkt), so it’s understandable that he may have been shattered by the end of all that.
Jurgen Klopp would probably liked to have used Gakpo more sparingly amid a hectic run of fixtures, but he doesn’t have that luxury at the moment amid injuries to Darwin Nunez, Mo Salah and a longer-term issue for Diogo Jota.
It mightn’t have been the Dutchman’s night against Southampton, but having scored in both of his most recent Premier League outings, he’ll be confident of maintaining that streak against Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
You can view Nicol’s comments on Gakpo below (from 2:56), via ESPN FC on YouTube: