Rio Ngumoha managed to prove why Arne Slot should be starting him more at Liverpool during the first half of their Carabao Cup clash against Crystal Palace.
Going into the second half, the score is currently 2-0 to the Eagles, with the clash being fairly end-to-end, even if Ismaila Sarr did bag a brace.
Ngumoha burst onto the scene in the summer, with Slot choosing against signing Malick Fofana to allow the Englishman to develop further.
And, even though Ngumoha bagged a last-minute winner on his Premier League debut against Newcastle, he’s rarely featured.
However, in their Carabao Cup clash against Palace on Wednesday, that’s been a completely different story with Ngumoha proving to be one of the Reds’ best players and showing why Slot should be giving him more of a chance.
Rio Ngumoha’s pace is something that Liverpool miss when Cody Gakpo starts
Last season, Liverpool had the best of both worlds with Luis Diaz as their starting left-winger.
His pace was a sight to behold, and his ability to either cut inside or bomb down the wing was what made him so hard to defend against.
And, while Cody Gakpo may be a better finisher than the Colombian, he has much less pace, and, as shown in Liverpool’s game against Manchester United, Gakpo is rather prone to hitting the post.
However, with Ngumoha in the starting XI, it feels like glimpses of Diaz’s style of play have shone through, especially with his ability to take the ball forward at speed.
His ability to dribble past his opponents and even ping a decent ball into the box makes it seem like he’s had much more of an impact than Gakpo already.
Rio Ngumoha needs to play more games for Liverpool this season
In reality, Liverpool only have one senior left-winger among their ranks in Gakpo.
And, even though Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike can both play there if needed, Slot’s men would be much better off if they had another natural option on the wing.
This is why Ngumoha must start more games.
Due to his unpredictability, he makes it a lot harder for opposing players to force him into a mistake and onto his weaker foot.
He also created one of the Reds’ best chances of the tie in the 27th minute when he bobbed and weaved around most of Palace’s defence, but, unfortunately, Federico Chiesa couldn’t get it past Walter Benitez.
Indeed, since Ngumoha is only 17 years old, he’ll still need time to develop and too much football at such a young age would obviously hinder more than it would help.
But the fact that he was the brightest spark in the first 45 minutes of Liverpool’s game against a full-strength Palace side proves that the “fearless” 17-year-old is ready for a more regular role.
However, if Slot doesn’t manage to shore up his defence soon, it won’t matter how good the Reds’ attack is.
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