Liverpool vs Nottingham Forest: Gakpo’s right-side role offers a Barcola clue

Liverpool and Nottingham Forest drew 2-2 at Anfield, but the sharper detail came from where Cody Gakpo started. He was deployed on the right, and that shape points to Bradley Barcola as a left-sided option if Liverpool stick with this balance across the front line. Victor Muñoz scored in the 82nd minute, and the late finish only added to the sense that the game was already offering clues beyond the scoreline.

Gakpo on the right

Andoni Iraola kept the attack fluid, but the Gakpo move stood out because it gives Liverpool an obvious way to keep width on both sides. If Barcola does arrive in the £123million deal reported by the Daily Star, a left-sided role fits the shape that was on show here better than forcing him into the same channel as Gakpo.

The on-pitch evidence backed that up. Gakpo supplied one assist from the right, while Alexander Isak was Liverpool’s sharpest finisher in the draw. Victor Muñoz’s 82nd-minute goal came after the switch had already changed the game’s feel.

What the draw says about Liverpool

The result also left Liverpool on two points from their first two league games, both ending 2-2. That is a slow start, and the crowd’s reaction captured it after the equaliser, with “THEY ARE AT IT AGAIN! THEY ARE AT IT AGAIN!” ringing around Anfield.

The Barcola part is still a report, not a done deal from the club itself, but the fit is easy to see. Liverpool can keep Gakpo on the right, use Barcola on the left, and leave room for the rest of the attack to rotate around them. The draw with Forest did not settle much, but it did show where the most natural balance may be if the move is completed.