Kop makes Cody Gakpo feelings clear as rapid Liverpool redemption complete

Had Tottenham Hotspur got their way, Cody Gakpo would have been lining up against Liverpool here rather than helping them take their first step towards Wembley.

The repeated failure of the Reds to recruit a new right-winger during the summer transfer window meant both the Londoners and Manchester City, who were willing to spend £85million on Gakpo, ultimately had to look elsewhere.

And how Liverpool have benefited from the circumstances that saw the Dutchman not only stay, but also subsequently emerge as their key player during the formative stages of Andoni Iraola’s tenure.

To think it was mere months ago Gakpo was among those being targeted by the angry Anfield crowd as Liverpool lurched from one disappointment to the next under the beleaguered and ultimately banished Arne Slot.

Here, though, the Kop crowed by chanting the name of the Holland international during the second half of a deserved Carabao Cup third-round triumph against the attacker’s former suitors. Rare has redemption been so rapid.

Small wonder, too. Gakpo was influential in the opening goal, thrusting inside from the left flank and finding Rio Ngumoha before Alexis Mac Allister swept home from the edge of the area.

Better still was to come shortly after half-time when, picking up a pass inside the area from Mac Allister, Gakpo cut on to his right foot in characteristic fashion and bludgeoned a shot into the far corner beyond Tottenham goalkeeper Martin Dubravka.

Last season, a confidence-shot Gakpo would probably have fired that against a defender to huge groans from the home support. Now, though, much of what he does is met with far more encouraging noises.

Also claiming the loosest of contributions for teeing up substitute Dominik Szoboszlai’s thunderous late 30-yard strike, Gakpo now has two goals and four assists in five appearances this season, the perfect response to the pressure on his preferred left-wing role applied by the big-money summer arrivals of Victor Munoz and, in particular, £123million man Bradley Barcola.

Where Gakpo also impressed was with his physicality, Tottenham defenders regularly bouncing off his tall frame and on the receiving end of a handful of feisty duels.

It’s precisely the kind of performance Iraola wants from his players. Now Gakpo is the target for a very different reason for Liverpool.