Q&ACody Gakpo interview: Two years at Liverpool, Diaz combination and Anfield anticipation

It was in December 2022 that an agreement was reached for the Netherlands international to move to the club from PSV Eindhoven, and he officially arrived in the subsequent January.

There has since been 104 appearances for Gakpo and 32 goals, including nine so far in 2024-25 to help Arne Slot’s side lead both the Premier League and Champions League.

“I enjoy every minute I’m here,” the No.18 told Liverpoolfc.com at the AXA Training Centre. “It has been a fantastic two years for myself.

“A lot of things happened obviously – a lot of good moments, some lesser-good moments but a lot of things that I’ve learned. I’m very happy to be here at the club, hopefully for many more years!

“I think now we are in a good place as a team and I’m very happy that I can contribute as well. We spoke about it the other day, some players thought I was here already way longer. But it has only been two years so hopefully a lot more years to come.”

Liverpool opened up a four-point gap at the Premier League summit on Sunday with an emphatic 6-3 win at Tottenham Hotspur, where Luis Diaz (two), Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai and Mohamed Salah (two) were on target.

Next up is an Anfield clash on Boxing Day with Leicester City, who are now managed by Gakpo’s former head coach at PSV – Ruud van Nistelrooy.

We sat down with Gakpo to preview the visit of the Foxes. Read on for more from the pre-match interview…

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Firstly reflecting back on Sunday, it was quite some game. Talk us through it from your perspective…

Obviously a big game for us, a must-win as well after two draws [in the league]. Also knowing that Chelsea had a draw made it more important as well, to open the gap a little bit. The game in itself was also a big game, Tottenham away. We went there with full power. I think it was an enjoyable game to watch, lots of great things from our side and, at the end, a big result.

Attacking-wise, it was fantastic. But defensively, everybody referenced afterwards the frustration with conceding three. Was that a discussion straight away, you can’t afford to let the concentration drop at any point?

Yeah, I think you say it right. Obviously when you score six, you hope to get a clean sheet as well. I think the first goal was a little bit unlucky from our side – maybe it was a foul, maybe it was not a foul. The last two, maybe we were a little bit less concentrated as we should [be], we can work on that. But that being said, Tottenham are always a good side with very good attacking players as well, who can score goals, can score a lot of goals. They have shown that in the game against us but also in other games. So, yeah, we can work on that to not concede those goals and to stay concentrated, but it’s also the game of football.

It’s difficult to say new things about Mo and how good he is, but on Sunday he went up to fourth on LFC’s all-time top scorers list. As a forward, tell us what kind of achievement that is…

I don’t know what to say! It’s very special what we are all witnessing. The amount of goals he scores but the assists he gives as well, the way he plays the game, how he puts other attacking players or midfielders like myself in a position to score and to be dangerous is from a high level. I hope for us and for him that he can continue doing that for a long time. We are very lucky to have him and proud that we can be his teammate and try to make him better. And he is trying to make us better as well.

Lucho as well gets two on Sunday. There’s a bit of a difference at times this season with you on the left and him through the middle. What is that dynamic like when you play together?

I think it’s good. Obviously he plays a little bit more central now but sometimes he comes to the left and I go in the middle, then we switch again. It has been a good dynamic and we both get in dangerous positions to score. He showed again on Sunday how dangerous he is – in the box with his head, and his second goal I think was a great run and a good finish. I think when we play together, the way we click together is that we go in each other’s positions and going back, trying to make our actions and getting each other in the best possible position to be dangerous.

It’s a reunion for you with Ruud van Nistelrooy on Thursday. It must have been really special for you as a Dutch striker to learn from him and work under him at PSV Eindhoven?

Yeah, yeah, he was the striker coach for me when I was in the first team a little bit and also when I was in the academy. I learned a lot from him and I’m very grateful for all the lessons. He was also my head coach in the last half-season I was at PSV, so very grateful for all the lessons he taught me and it was an honour to get all those teachings from him.

In terms of the match against Leicester, there’s very little extra motivation needed for this: to keep the pace at the top of the Premier League table, a Boxing Day night game at Anfield…

I think nobody can wait for it. We are eager to go out there again and to win the game, that’s our goal. What you said is true, there’s no extra motivation needed. We know what our goals are this season in every competition and that means we need to win the games.

It’s just your second taste of the English fixture schedule at Christmas – do you like it?

Yeah, I like the rhythm – just game after game after game. And obviously now we are in a good moment, it’s more enjoyable. Every football player dreams of playing as many games as possible.