Steven Gerrard and Jermaine Pennant have both called on Arne Slott to give Leo Ngumoha a starting berth when Liverpool face Wolves in the FA Cup on Friday night.
In this week’s first-round tie at Molineux, the home side sealed their third Premier League win of the season with a stoppage-time goal that James Pearce diplomatically described as “a mess”.
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It was another game in which the 17-year-old replaced Cody Gakpo in the second half, who endured another frustrating night in front of goal, with two former LFC team-mates now believing the teenager should get the nod on the left flank when the team resumes action later this week.
Gerrard and Pennant have both called for Ngumoha to start on Friday
Gerrard said in an interview with TNT Sports after the game: “He has to start Ngumoha now. He came in and did more in a short period of time than Gakpo did in 65-70 minutes, so he should start now. He has to start this kid on Friday night.”
Meanwhile, Pennant expressed similar sentiments about X, posting: “Rio now has to start on Friday night. When Gakpo came on, again he performed better than Gakpo did throughout the game. Do you know why he did more? [Because] He gets to the baseline, cuts inside, and his play is unpredictable. Why on earth didn’t Sloat tell him? If every fan [is] Thinking about…”
(Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
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How did Ngumoha and Gakpo fare on Tuesday night?
While the Dutchman was somewhat willing to break through the Wolves defense in the first half last night, overall it was another game that cost him a miss, and he may have cost Curtis Jones a goal when he inadvertently blocked a close-range effort shortly after the break.
Ngumoha, who was making his first Premier League appearance of more than 20 minutes, was lively again but was unlucky not to score with a curling shot, with José Sa’s superb strike hitting the post.
Sofascore’s data (see below) compares the impact of both wingers at Molineux, with the numbers in brackets representing their average minutes per minute in each metric.
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Given these respective statistics, as well as the quick turnaround for Friday’s game and a Champions League trip to Istanbul early next week, Ngumoha has every reason to start in the FA Cup tie, just as he did against Barnsley in January.
Slaughter recently said he would be “surprised” if the 17-year-old doesn’t get “more playing time” in the near future. It might be time for the Liverpool manager to act on those words, having put his complete trust in the teenage prodigy and playing every game so far as if his life depended on it.
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