The Reds came in for heavy criticism after losing to Nottingham Forest at Anfield over the weekend and were in dire need of both a result and a performance to keep those naysayers at bay.
Fortunately for Arne Slot, his side conjured up both and ran out deserved winners at San Siro.
Here were Liverpool’s best and worst players on the night, as per 90min’s full player ratings.
To begin his reign, Slot has rigidly stuck with a front three of Mohamed Salah, Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz. Despite his fine performances at Euro 2024 with the Netherlands, Cody Gakpo has seldom been afforded the opportunity to impress his countryman in the dugout.
Gakpo was named in the starting lineup to face Milan, and boy did he stake a claim for a more regular spot in the team moving forward.
Milan captain Davide Calabria couldn’t get near the languid forward, who sprung about the San Siro turf with the vigour Slot would’ve been hoping to see.
Gakpo’s crowning moment came when he raced away from the retreating Rossoneri defence and delivered a cross for Dominik Szoboszlai that was impossible for him to miss, creating Liverpool’s third goal rounding off the scoring.
This spot could’ve gone to Virgil van Dijk or Trent Alexander-Arnold, but they’ve had plenty of days in the sun already.
Let’s instead take a moment to appreciate Dominik Szoboszlai’s resurgence at the start of this season. After a fast start to his debut 2023/24 campaign at Anfield, his form dipped as the year went on and the Hungarian’s hype dissipated.
But with Slot at the helm, Szoboszlai is a young man reborn and a perfect jack-of-all-trades fit for this new system. A powerful number 10 who works as hard as he does is a tough profile to find.
Milan were tormented by Szoboszlai both on and off the ball, and his goal at the end of Gakpo’s cross was a just reward for his performance on the whole.
This is really a matter of splitting hairs considering Liverpool were flawless for 87 of the 90 minutes over in Italy.
If we were to pick the tiniest of nits, we would focus on Jota and his inability to get on the scoresheet despite being gifted a glorious opening to do so in the first half.
Darwin Nunez then came off the bench and didn’t have much of an impact either, but you do wonder whether the Uruguayan will, like Gakpo, be given a start to show Slot what he’s truly capable of in the near future.
