'All of a sudden' - Cody Gakpo gives verdict on Liverpool rotation as Arne Slot decisions pay off
A beaming Cody Gakpo revealed his pride at seeing Liverpool's youngsters help Arne Slot's team reach the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup with a 3-2 win over Brighton & Hove Albion on Wednesday night.
Gakpo scored twice on the night before Luis Diaz's late strike and the Reds held out after Tariq Lamptey's deflected effort had made it 3-2 late on, which came after Simon Adingra had reduced arrears earlier in the game to make it 2-1.
Slot made eight changes in total and handed a first start of the season to Tyler Morton and goalkeeper Vitezlsav Jaros, who excelled with two superb saves in either half from Lamptey and Adingra, while there was also a maiden appearance of the campaign for Trey Nyoni off the bench and a run-out for a returning Conor Bradley at right-back.
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Gakpo's two goals were the highlights of the evening, particularly a rasping first scored less than a minute into the second half, but the Netherlands international preferred to praise the younger players who help keep the holders on course for back-to-back League Cups ahead of a last-eight tie with Southampton before Christmas.
"The young players? Very good, very good," Gakpo said. "Tyler Morton started, he didn’t start that often. Trey came in late on, and the goalie [Jaros] obviously. I think they did fantastic, so I am very proud of them as well. Proud of the whole team.
"It’s not always easy if you don’t play that much and then all of a sudden you need to play a game; for example, Conor was a little bit injured, back directly and playing 90 minutes. Everybody did well so I'm really proud of them and really proud of the team.
"Overall I think the most important [thing] is that we won here, and that’s what we did. A tough opponent, a lot of quality. But we showed great character today and I think it was a good game to watch. I think two good goals, but I think maybe it should have been more or get an assist as well. But at the end, [I'm] very happy with the goals as well.
Gakpo added: "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."
Liverpool will meet Brighton again later this week when the Seagulls visit Anfield in the Premier League.