Cody Gakpo moment speaks volumes as Arne Slot hint emerges before Brighton rematch

Cody Gakpo just loves the Carabao Cup. He is now on four goals for the season and all of them have come in this competition — two against West Ham United and two more against Brighton.

The first was a spectacular effort that curled into the top corner; the second a clever finish at the near post that was into the back of the goal before Jason Steele could even think about dropping his body down to prevent it beating him. After a quiet first half, a decisive few minutes in the second that ultimately put Liverpool in control.

Two years or so ago, when Liverpool went for a quadruple under Jurgen Klopp, in the Carabao Cup, it was Takumi Minamino and Divock Origi who were the heroes when wholesale changes were required. It says everything that Gakpo, a $48m (£37m/€44m) signing, now falls into that category.

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"I think two good goals, but I think maybe it should have been more or get an assist as well," he told Sky Sports post-match. "But at the end, very happy. Obviously every competition you play in you want to win. This one as well, so very happy that we went through and onto the next."

Even with Federico Chiesa and Diogo Jota injured and with Darwin Nunez in need of a rest because of how much he has played lately, Arne Slot could still select Gakpo and Luis Diaz in wide areas. Those two — rather than makeshift attackers Curtis Jones and Dominik Szoboszlai, who played as kind of double false nines — proved to be the difference-makers.

Gakpo was taken off before the final whistle, unlike Diaz, which hints that it will be him who keeps his place alongside Nunez and Mohamed Salah when the sides reconvene at Anfield in three days. It was perhaps another hint, too, that Andy Robertson was playing over Kostas Tsimikas — a surprise, to some extent, even given the Scot's recent struggles for form.

Wholesale changes for Liverpool these days, however, means something completely different to before. It means Gakpo and Diaz playing, and it means a really good chance of going far in the Carabao Cup, regardless.

Gakpo's moment of quality that set Liverpool on its way to winning the game was not particularly out of the ordinary for someone so good. If anything, it speaks volumes about the depth that Liverpool has that he is currently viewed as a back-up — albeit a so-called second choice who might edge his way into first-XI contention this weekend.

When Liverpool faces Brighton again in the Premier League this Saturday, you wouldn't bet against Gakpo being on target. In taking him off early here, Slot was perhaps hinting at his inclusion from the start once again.