Cody Gakpo Shines in Liverpool's 2-0 Win
Cody Gakpo walked off into the Suffolk night with the questions answered and the noise silenced.
On a week when his future at Anfield sat under a harsh spotlight, the Dutchman ran the game, ran the channels and, crucially, ran the show. Every rumour of a summer exit felt a little more distant with each touch. This was the performance of a player central to Andoni Iraola’s plans, not one edging towards the door.
Gakpo didn’t just score or simply threaten. He orchestrated. He saw passes early, drifted into pockets of space and kept dragging defenders into places they didn’t want to go. Liverpool’s 2-0 win was built on his vision and his willingness to give, not take, in the final third.
The numbers told their own story. Two goals for Isak. Two assists from Gakpo. Nine minutes that ripped the game away.
Isak, riding a wave of form that has transformed his start to the season, supplied the ruthless finish to Gakpo’s craft. The Sweden international is in the sharpest spell of his Premier League career, already matching his entire league goal tally from last season in just three outings. Confidence radiates from him now; every run looks dangerous, every touch seems to point towards goal.
His brace came in a blur. The first, instinctive and cold-blooded. The second, just as clinical. Both arrived from Gakpo’s service, both underlined a partnership that looks increasingly natural. It was a “nine minutes of madness” that echoed through the club’s recent history, as Isak matched a feat last achieved by Maxi Rodriguez more than a decade ago. That kind of company is never accidental.
Gakpo spoke afterwards with the easy grin of a man who knows the chemistry is real.
"Yeah, we will see. We always train together, and always try to get to know each other better. Hopefully we can assist each other many times. He owes me a few assists now!"
There was no bravado in it, just a quiet confidence that this link-up is only just beginning.
He reserved his strongest words for the collective, though. The win mattered. The performance mattered.
"I think it was a great game today. Obviously some things we have to improve still but a much-needed win for us, and I'm really glad that we got the three points," he told Sky Sports, summing up the sense of relief and purpose that followed the final whistle.
For Iraola, this felt like a line in the sand.
Two 2-2 draws to start his Premier League tenure had raised an awkward question: could this Liverpool side finish the job when it mattered? In Suffolk, they answered with a display that was disciplined rather than dazzling, controlled rather than chaotic. The manager finally had his first league win in the Liverpool dugout, and with it, he avoided an unwanted place in the club’s record books. He did not join Brendan Rodgers as a coach who failed to win any of his first three Premier League games at the club.
The captain saw exactly what had changed.
Virgil van Dijk pointed to the plan, and to the man who executed it so well.
"I think we were a little bit more direct in the beginning, which is what we wanted to put the danger in their half and create a bit of chaos. Great goals. Cody was outstanding. Great win, and on to the next."
Direct. Dangerous. Chaotic in the right areas. It was a template that suited Gakpo, who thrived on the front-foot approach and repeatedly found Isak early, before the defence could reset.
Van Dijk didn’t dodge the transfer narrative either. He knows how important it is that Gakpo stays put.
"Massive. I said it before the transfer window had closed, he's important for us, and he will be important this season."
That line felt less like praise and more like a statement of intent. Liverpool have built this iteration of their attack with Gakpo as a key piece. Performances like this only harden that stance.
On a night when Iraola claimed his first Premier League win and Isak continued his blistering start, it was Gakpo who tied it all together. The architect, the provider, the player whose future had been debated all summer, now making himself indispensable on the pitch.
If this is the standard he intends to set, the real question is no longer whether Liverpool can afford to keep him.
It’s how far they can go with him pulling the strings.
