Gerrard Demands Gakpo Axe After Liverpool's Shock Wolves Collapse

Liverpool's unconvincing run came to a shuddering halt on Tuesday evening as Wolves pulled off a stunning upset at Anfield, winning 2-1 to leave the Reds' top-four hopes hanging in the balance.

Andre's deflected effort in stoppage time proved decisive, cancelling out Mohamed Salah's equaliser to Rodrigo Gomes' opening goal. The defeat could see Liverpool slip to sixth if Chelsea overcome Aston Villa on Wednesday night.

For much of the contest, the hosts were dreadfully blunt in the final third. Steven Gerrard, surveying proceedings for TNT Sports, was particularly damning of Liverpool's first-hour display. "For 65 minutes Liverpool were desperate tonight, really poor, didn't create enough, didn't play at the right speed or the right tempo, didn't have enough quality," the club legend remarked.

The Reds legend's frustration centred on Slot's reluctance to hand Rio Ngumoha a starting berth. The youngster has impressed in recent substitute appearances, regularly making more of an impact in fleeting cameos than Gakpo manages in extended spells on the pitch. Gerrard believes the time has come for a change. "He has to start Ngumoha now. He has to start him because he's coming on and he's doing more in a short cameo in a short space of time than Gakpo's doing in 65, 70 minutes. He deserves to start now. He's got to start the kid on Friday night in the FA Cup."

Michael Owen shared similar misgivings about Gakpo's form this season, but extended his criticism to summer arrival Milos Kerkez. The full-back's nervous display against Wolves particularly caught Owen's eye during his analysis for Premier League Productions. "I can't warm to Kerkez, I'm afraid. He looks like a bag of nerves, he looks like he doesn't want the ball, he looks like he's an emotional defender," Owen said.

The former Liverpool striker highlighted the dramatic downturn in quality across the backline and attacking flanks compared to last season. "Full-backs you've gone from Trent and Robertson, possibly the best combination of full-back the Premier League has seen for a long, long time, you had Salah ahead of him who has just been a freak over the last few years, incredible, and of course Luis Diaz who played the majority of the time and was exceptional as well," Owen noted.

Salah, in particular, has been a shadow of himself this campaign, while Gakpo has similarly disappointed. Owen was blunt in his assessment: "Gakpo is half the player he was last season. Salah is a tenth of the player he was last season."

The departures of Alexander-Arnold and Diaz, combined with injuries limiting alternatives like Conor Bradley and Jeremie Frimpong, have left Liverpool significantly weakened on both flanks. Owen acknowledged the circumstances surrounding those exits, but the cumulative effect remains damaging. "Straight away in four places Liverpool are weaker, much weaker, than last season," he concluded.

With the FA Cup providing an opportunity to respond on Friday, Slot faces mounting pressure to freshen up his attacking options and restore some attacking verve to a side that has suddenly looked decidedly ordinary.