Liverpool’s 3-2 win over Brighton in the League Cup threw up plenty of talking points, among them Wataru Endo‘s reliability, Dominik Szoboszlai‘s positional change and Cody Gakpo‘s finishing.
With Ryan Gravenberch given the night off – he watched the game on his phone at a restaurant – Endo was awarded just his second start of the season.
Like in his previous start, against West Ham in the third round, Endo stepped up to the plate and gave a performance worthy of recognition.
Though he doesn’t have the same traits on the ball as Gravenberch, that Arne Slot evidently sees as crucial for his holding midfielder, the Japanese is still an asset to the Reds when on the pitch.
Playing in a double pivot in front of the defence, Endo navigated the game well, helping to guide 22-year-old midfield partner Tyler Morton through the game, too.
The area Slot may see as his weakness, a perceived lack of ability to receive the ball facing his own goal and turn defence into attack quickly, didn’t appear to be a problem at the Amex.
Endo was composed on the ball and wasn’t dispossessed once during his 64 minutes on the pitch.
He also used his body well to avoid being pickpocketed and was fouled three times, more than any other Liverpool player on the pitch according to FotMob.
While you could argue he should have released the ball quicker at times, he still completed 31 of his 37 passes (84 percent) and made three of those into the final third.
A new position for Dominik Szoboszlai
In the summer of 2023, Szoboszlai arrived at Liverpool from RB Leipzig known for his exploits as a goalscoring attacking midfielder who could also cause damage from wide areas.
In his first season under Jurgen Klopp, he was moved into a box-to-box role and initially made a great impact – his thunderbolt against Leicester in the League Cup a particularly memorable moment.
As the season went on, though, his form dropped off as an attacking asset.
Under Arne Slot this campaign, the Hungarian has been used mainly as Liverpool’s most advanced midfielder, but he has still been more effective working off the ball than on it.
Against Brighton, with Diogo Jota injured and Darwin Nunez on the bench, Slot elected to play Szoboszlai in a role that can be described best as a false-nine.
The above image is WhoScored‘s map of the pitch with all the touches Szoboszlai took against Brighton on Wednesday.
The Hungarian wasn’t expected to suddenly become Roberto Firmino reborn, but there has been some reaction to his lack of potency in front of goal again.
He had two good chances but failed to finish either, though he could perhaps blame Cody Gakpo‘s poor pass for one of those.
Cody Gakpo’s finishing
Speaking of Gakpo, he may have failed to set up Szoboszlai in Liverpool’s three-on-one opportunity 61 minutes in, but that was a rare mistake in a performance that saw him rated as nine out of ten by FotMob.
It was his finishing in particular that caught the eye, scoring two of his three shots with powerful efforts that gave Jason Steele no chance in the Brighton goal.
As well as viewing the goals with our eyes, we can also use xGOT (expected goals on target) to assess his shooting.
As a tool, xGOT is best used to measure how difficult shots are to stop for the goalkeeper and how good the striker’s finishes are when they hit the target.
On Wednesday night, Gakpo managed an xGOT of 0.9 from his three shots, meaning there was very little chance of the goalkeeper saving the powerful shots once they had been hit.
Meanwhile, his xG was just 0.1. From this, we can gather that he scored from positions he wasn’t expected to.
His first goal, from the left wing, was ranked as having just 0.02 xG, while his second was marginally more likely with 0.04xG.
However, if you then compare that to their xGOT of 0.57 and 0.33 respectively, you can gather how clinical Gakpo was.
Luis Diaz, who was consigned to the right wing at the Amex, is still expected to play on the left in the Premier League against Brighton, though.
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