No way back for Cody Gakpo? Luis Diaz makes himself undroppable in Liverpool 3-0 Bournemouth | OneFootball

Liverpool boss Arne Slot came into Saturday’s fixture against Bournemouth with a decision to make: start Luis Díaz or Cody Gakpo. Despite calls for the latter, he retained two-thirds of last week’s front line, which paid off spectacularly.

Gakpo’s performance in Milan midweek was impressive enough to keep his spot as the Reds’ left-sided forward, but Díaz has been equally good this season, even if he drew a blank in the loss to Nottingham Forest last time out.

If anything, the Colombian international was one of Liverpool’s better players in an uncharacteristically disjointed team showing. Díaz came into matchday four having registered three goals in three outings, including a brace at Old Trafford against Manchester United. Heading into this weekend, he knew that if selected, anything less than impressive could see Gakpo usurp him in arguably the most competitive spot in Slot’s team.

Right from the start, you could tell he was highly motivated. Díaz had two shots on target before converting his third effort, breaking the deadlock. He soon netted a second, making him the first Liverpool player in 2024 to score ten Premier League goals.

As the dust settles, Díaz now sits as the Reds’ leading scorer with five goals (and one assist), while only teammate Mohamed Salah (7) and Erling Haaland (9) have been involved in more goals this season. On a personal note, he’s three away from equaling last season’s return.

Slot’s decision to start Gakpo over him in the club’s Champions League opener did raise a few eyebrows but was ultimately vindicated with the Dutchman being named man of the match by Italian daily La Gazzetta Dello Sport, who noted, “For Paulo Fonseca, he was a real nightmare.”

It further highlights the strength in depth afforded to Klopp as he navigates between multiple competitions in seeking to uphold Jürgen Klopp’s legacy, if not build upon it. Possession, as the saying goes, is nine-tenths of the law. Right now, Díaz holds down the coveted left-wing spot, but as we saw in Italy, given the chance, Gakpo could steal it. However, based on this latest Premier League contribution, Díaz is undroppable.

But that doesn’t mean he gets to play the full 90 minutes, as Slot took him off with 18 minutes remaining. Gakpo, naturally, took over. By then, Liverpool had raced into a 3-0 lead, and despite registering 17 shots, higher than their average of 16.3 per game this season, the Cherries were unable to breach Caoimhín Kelleher (who made seven saves, his highest total in a single Premier League match), filling in for first-choice goalkeeper Alisson.

Liverpool vs Bournemouth player ratings

We used Twenty3 Sport’s Discovery Tool to assign each player a percentage score. Each player’s statistics are compared to the average output of their respective position. We also weighted each statistic from 1 to 5 to highlight the most important aspects of their respective position style, with five being the most important.

Liverpool

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