Cody Gakpo Impresses as Barcola Faces Challenge for Liverpool Spot

Jamie Carragher believes Bradley Barcola “is going to struggle to get a game” if Cody Gakpo keeps playing like this.

Liverpool’s £123m summer signing from Paris Saint-Germain is still waiting for his Premier League moment, but on Friday night at Portman Road the man in possession of the shirt made a powerful case to keep it.

Gakpo turns on the style

Liverpool arrived at Ipswich Town under a bit of a cloud. Back-to-back 2-2 draws against Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest had raised questions about Andoni Iraola’s start, about game management, about a defence that had been far too generous.

All that anxiety evaporated inside nine ruthless minutes.

Alexander Isak struck twice early on to put Liverpool in complete control of a match that, on paper, looked awkward. Ipswich produced 14 shots and never completely went away, but the visitors managed the game with a calm that had been missing in those opening draws.

At the heart of it was Gakpo. Two moments of real quality from the Dutchman unlocked the hosts, the standout a glorious outside-of-the-boot through ball that sliced Ipswich’s back line and sent Isak racing clear for Liverpool’s second.

It was the sort of pass that turns heads. One that also turns up the pressure on Barcola before he has even kicked a ball in anger.

Carragher watched it all unfold and went straight to social media. On X, the former Liverpool defender wrote: “Barcola is going to struggle to get a game with this version of Gakpo.”

It was blunt. It was also hard to argue with on this evidence.

Van Dijk: ‘Cody was outstanding’

Gakpo’s form has not come out of nowhere. The Netherlands international impressed throughout pre-season and has carried that sharpness into the early weeks of the campaign, convincing Liverpool to keep him at Anfield despite serious interest from Manchester City and Tottenham.

Virgil van Dijk, now wearing the armband and setting the tone, underlined just how central his compatriot has become.

“Cody was outstanding,” the Liverpool captain told Sky Sports. “He’s important for us and he will be important this season as well.

“He showed it today, last week as well with the assist and over the last couple of years.”

Those are not the words of a dressing room preparing to ease him out for a new arrival. Barcola has arrived for a huge fee and with huge expectations, but he walks into a forward line that already looks rejuvenated.

Isak answers his own questions

If Gakpo supplied the craft, Isak provided the cutting edge.

Last season never really got going for the Sweden striker after his big-money move from Newcastle United. Injuries disrupted his rhythm, his numbers never quite matched the price tag, and Liverpool were left waiting for the player they thought they had signed.

This looked a lot closer.

Two sharp finishes against Ipswich, two reminders of why the club pushed so hard to bring him in. His movement stretched the defence, his timing returned, his confidence obvious.

Iraola sounded less interested in the headlines and more in the foundations being laid.

“He’s a massive player for us,” the Liverpool manager said. “My demands will probably not be about the goals. I know he is fit and in good shape. He’s going to produce the numbers.

“My fight with him will be more about other stuff, how to help the team in other situations – but it is good he has already played two full games, scoring the goals, so I am very happy to have him.”

Isak himself spoke like a striker who feels the rust finally coming off.

“We were waiting for the first win,” he said. “We talked about starting the game good, which we haven’t done recently, so it was perfect for us to get two good quick goals.

“With a normal pre-season, I think we are starting to get to the way we want to play. To be offensive and attack the defence. I think we did that. We scored two, and we could have scored more.”

Barcola’s challenge

So where does that leave Barcola?

Liverpool did not spend £123m on a luxury squad option. The former PSG winger arrives as part of a wider rebuild, a long-term piece of a new-look attack. His talent is not in doubt.

But football is ruthless. Gakpo has seized his moment, Van Dijk is publicly backing him, and Isak has rediscovered his scoring touch just as the system starts to click.

Barcola will get his chance. The season is long, the schedule unforgiving, the demands on Liverpool’s forwards relentless.

For now, though, Carragher’s verdict hangs in the air: to break into this front line, the new signing will have to dislodge a version of Gakpo that looks determined not to step aside.