Liverpool is the only team in the Champions League to have won four matches in a row so far this season with Luis Diaz and Cody Gakpo securing the points in the second half at Anfield.
After a first-half stalemate, Liverpool moved into the ascendency. It took a magical moment from Curtis Jones to slide Diaz in behind; the Colombian lifted a deft shot over the goalkeeper and he ended up netting a hat-trick.
Xabi Alonso’s side had taken some breaking down but only moments after the opener, Gakpo was just onside as he secured the result. Here are the four things Liverpool.com spotted as the game unfolded, with Diaz adding a third and a fourth late on.
Luis Diaz emerges as number nine option
With Diogo Jota and Federico Chiesa injured, Arne Slot’s attacking options have been cut by a third. Even so, he chose to go without Darwin Nunez from the start, with Diaz playing centrally instead, allowing Gakpo to remain wide left.
The Colombian did that very well when he came on against Brighton and showed some glimpses here. He wasn’t always central — at times, Diaz did drift wide — but he was unequivocally the striker, often joined by an advanced Curtis Jones.
Jurgen Klopp would undoubtedly have had Diaz and Gakpo in opposite positions, but Slot has his own way of doing things. There is no doubt that Gakpo is better wide, and on this evidence, Diaz can do a job in the middle too. He got a hat-trick here with the decision to play Gakpo on the left flank paying dividends too.
