Arne Slot reacts to Liverpool’s 3-2 win over Brighton & Hove Albion in the Carabao Cup
Arne Slot says strength in depth up front is “normal at a club like Liverpool” after Cody Gakpo struck twice before a Luis Diaz goal in a 3-2 win over Brighton & Hove Albion in the Carabao Cup.
The holders moved into the quarter-finals of the competition at the Amex Stadium where they will now meet Southampton away and it was Gakpo who opened the scoring on the night with a stunning effort just after half time.
The Netherlands international then struck a second before Simon Adingra reduced the deficit. Diaz looked to have sealed the tie late on before Tariq Lamptey’s deflected strike off Jarell Quansah set up a tense finish.
READ MORE: What Liverpool end did while exiting Amex Stadium is clear as Arne Slot makes mockery of theoriesREAD MORE: Liverpool player ratings as Cody Gakpo and one other brilliant in Carabao Cup win over Brighton
Slot was asked about the rotating on the left side between Diaz and two-goal Gakpo and the head coach was pleased with the contributions of his Dutch compatriot in particular.
“Cody scored a lot of goals in the second half of last season, so has been a good player for Liverpool for a long time now,” Slot said. “He continues to be that and that can only be a good thing.
“For me, he is a regular starter. He doesn’t start every game but he starts on a regular basis. He is in a tough competition with Luis Diaz, who when he went to the left tonight also scored. It’s normal at a club like Liverpool that you have two quality players for many positions.
“If you look at the way Joe Gomez played and Jarell Quansah, who was maybe a bit unlucky with the goal he conceded, the overall performance from the both of them I liked as well. They are in competition with Virgil van Dijk and Ibou (Ibrahima Konate).”
On goalkeeper Vitezslav Jaros, who turned in a fine performance on his full debut, Slot added: “Everybody could see how important his saves were.
“The first big chance of the game was for them where he saved a one-v-one, in the second half we all remember some saves he made as well.
“But added to that, how comfortable he was with the ball at his feet, making the right choices, when to go short and when to go long towards the striker, and it helped also for him the quality Jarell Quansah and Joe Gomez brought in the build-up. I liked that triangle today a lot in ball possession.”
