Arne Slot was quick to praise Diogo Jota and Cody Gakpo for their braces during Liverpool’s 5-1 Carabao Cup victory over West Ham at Anfield on Wednesday night.
“I think Diogo deserves it because he plays a lot of good games for us already and, if I’m correct, he was only on the scoresheet in the first game against Ipswich,” he said after the game.
“But he’s been important for us in every single game he played. But the striker also wants to score goals some piece for him that he scored two today although he played on a number ten position. But he scored two really good goals. And Cody, I think it was ten, 15 minutes or 20 minutes before the end where he cleared the ball in his own 18 yard box.
“And, that is also what he brings to our game apart from scoring, too, because if I see him in training, the way he hits the ball in and around the 18 yard box is with incredible speed. So I’m not surprised him scoring like this. And Tony just told me that he scored an exact similar one last season in this Cup tie against West Ham, so not a shock prize to see him score another another the way he did.
“But it’s not only about them scoring, it’s only also about them defending in their own 18 yard box.”
