Steven Gerrard has urged Arne Slot to drop Cody Gakpo and hand Rio Ngumoha a start when Liverpool face Wolves in the FA Cup on Friday night.
The Reds return to Molineux just three days after their 2-1 Premier League defeat.
Mohamed Salah had cancelled out Rodrigo Gomes’ opener, but Andre struck in the 94th minute to seal victory for Wolves and end Liverpool’s five-game unbeaten run.
With little time to respond, Slot’s side head back to the Black Country for their FA Cup fifth-round clash.
After Virgil van Dijk described Liverpool as “slow and predictable,” Steven Gerrard echoed those concerns and called for a change in attack.
Gerrard believes Ngumoha should start ahead of Gakpo, who struggled to make an impact before being substituted in the 65th minute on Tuesday night.
Speaking to TNT Sports, Liverpool legend Gerrard said: “He’s right because for 65 minutes, Liverpool were desperate tonight, really poor.
“[They] didn’t create enough, didn’t play at the right speed or the right tempo, they didn’t have the right quality.
“He has to start Ngumoha now, he has to start him because he’s coming on and doing more in a short cameo and in a short space of time than Gakpo is doing in 65/70 minutes. He deserves a start now. He’s got the start the kid on Friday night.”
Ngumoha replaced Gakpo for the final 25 minutes plus stoppage time at Molineux and made an immediate impact. The 17-year-old struck the post and looked far more threatening in attack.
He has now made 19 senior appearances, scoring twice. He started the FA Cup third-round win over Barnsley and later came off the bench for 13 minutes in the fourth-round victory against Brighton.
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