Liverpool fans have seen several Reds players shine on the international stage over the past month, with one man in particular enjoying a standout tournament at Euro 2024.
Spain await the winners of tonight’s semi-final between Netherlands and England in the decider in Berlin on Sunday, and the Oranje’s progression to the brink of the final owes a lot to Cody Gakpo’s prolific nature.
The 25-year-old is the joint-top scorer in the competition with three goals, and only one of the other four players who’s tied with him (Dani Olmo) is still involved in Germany. Unsurprisingly, LFC’s number 18 has come in for plaudits from numerous pundits in their previews of the match in Dortmund later.
In tipping a win for his nation, Rafael van der Vaart told The Times that Gakpo has been ‘amazing’ at the tournament and ‘will be an important player for us’. Meanwhile, writing for Sportskeeda, Paul Merson expects the Three Lions to prevail but still praised the Dutch forward’s ‘sublime form’ at Euro 2024.
READ MORE: Liverpool considering swoop for unsung hero of Real Madrid’s Champions League triumph
When a club manager sees their players going off to a major tournament, all they want is for the men in their squad to perform well and, most crucially, not come back injured.
Arne Slot couldn’t be happier with how Gakpo has played at Euro 2024 thus far, with his three goals at the finals accompanied by a brilliant assist for Donyell Malen in the round-of-16 win over Romania.
Follow Empire of the Kop on Instagram (@empireofthekop) HERE
The 25-year-old has excellent on the left flank for Netherlands, which suggests that he should adopt the same role within Liverpool’s line-up once the Premier League season begins.
Of course, he’d also have Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota competing for a start on the flank, along with Darwin Nunez at centre-forward, so it’s no easy feat to win a regular berth in the Reds’ attack.
Gakpo could hardly be doing much more to make himself a sure-fire starter under Slot, though, and if he puts England and Spain to the sword over the next five days, it’d surely be impossible to leave him on the bench once he’s back in action for his club in August.
EOTK Close-up with John Welsh: ‘a local lad who lived his dream’ and Slot’s LFC predictions
The post ‘Amazing’ – Liverpool player has left several pundits awestruck by ‘sublime form’ for his country appeared first on The Empire of The Kop.
