A few Liverpool players will have viewed the Carabao Cup clash against Brighton on Wednesday night as a prime opportunity to make an impression on Arne Slot, and some of them seized their chance.
Tyler Morton was among those to enjoy a rare senior start for the Reds at the Amex Stadium, with his only other first-team involvement this season coming in the form of eight minutes off the bench against West Ham in the previous round of the competition (Transfermarkt).
The midfielder – who celebrates his 22nd birthday today – conjured up one moment in particular which’ll have delighted the head coach.
Morton set up Gakpo with brilliant assist
Within a minute of the second half commencing, Morton took possession just inside Brighton’s half of the pitch and – spotting that right-back Tariq Lamptey had been caught upfield – played a delightful chipped pass into space for Cody Gakpo to latch onto.
The Dutchman then cut in from the flank before unleashing a rocket of a shot past Jason Steele to open the scoring for Liverpool and send them on their way to an eventual 3-2 victory.
Morton was superb for Liverpool last night
It wasn’t just the quality of the pass from Morton that Slot will have enjoyed, but also the intelligence and vision to select the right option in picking out Gakpo, recognising that the winger had open grass in front of him due to Lamptey being out of position.
The Liverpool midfielder was also quite impressive in terms of his work out of possession last night, winning three duels and three tackles along with making two interceptions, one clearance and one block (Sofascore).
He was replaced by Alexis Mac Allister in the 64th minute but had done enough by that stage to stand out as one of the Reds’ most accomplished performers against Brighton.
Opportunities might still be limited for Morton at Anfield, with Slot tending not to deviate from a midfield axis of the Argentine and Ryan Gravenberch, but the former Blackburn and Hull loanee did his case for further inclusion no harm whatsoever with his display at the Amex Stadium.
You can view Morton’s assist for Gakpo below, via @LFC on X: