Liverpool vs. Leeds: Cody Gakpo out to emulate Ian Rush and achieve Reds goalscoring first in Premier League

Liverpool winger Cody Gakpo could achieve a club Premier League first and repeat an Ian Rush feat in Thursday's clash with Leeds United at Anfield.

Arne Slot's side are on the hunt for their fourth successive top-flight win during the 5.30pm kickoff, having taken down Brighton & Hove Albion, Tottenham Hotspur and Wolverhampton Wanderers in recent weeks.

The Dutchman oversaw a 2-1 success over the latter last time out, where Gakpo made his return from a muscular injury as a late substitute, but he now faces a fight to get back into the team.

With Curtis Jones, Alexis Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch all forcing their way into the side of late, Slot has sacrificed a wide man, and the duo of Florian Wirtz and Dominik Szoboszlai are currently first choice in that area.

Gakpo is therefore expected to only be on the bench again when Leeds pay a visit to the red half of Merseyside, although history suggests that he should come into Slot's thinking for a starting role.

Cody Gakpo can equal Ian Rush record in Liverpool vs. Leeds

The former PSV Eindhoven winger has scored in Liverpool's first Premier League game in each of the last two calendar years, firstly in the 4-2 win over Newcastle United in 2024 before last year's 2-2 stalemate with Manchester United.

Should Gakpo also find the back of the net on Thursday, he would become the first Liverpool player to score in the Reds' opening Premier League game of the year three seasons in a row.

The last man to achieve that three-year feat in the top flight for the Reds was all-time top scorer Rush, who netted in Liverpool's inaugural First Division matches of 1985 (vs. Watford), 1986 (vs. Sheffield Wednesday) and 1987 (vs. Nottingham Forest).

Gakpo's next goal contribution will also be his 10th of the season for the Premier League champions, having come up with five strikes and four assists from his opening 21 games of the campaign, including four goals and three helpers in the top flight alone.

However, Slot faced frequent calls to drop the 26-year-old prior to his injury, with a portion of fans highlighting the poor form of Gakpo and Ibrahima Konate during Mohamed Salah's exile from the team.

Liverpool at risk of unwanted losing first in Leeds fixture

Gakpo was not even a Liverpool player the last time Leeds visited Anfield, when Jesse Marsch masterminded a phenomenal 2-1 victory for the Yorkshire side in October 2022.

Crysencio Summerville's late winner stunned Jurgen Klopp's side on Merseyside, as Leeds beat Liverpool away from home for the first time since April 2001, when Rio Ferdinand and Lee Bowyer struck.

Another Leeds upset would also mark an unwanted losing first for Liverpool, who have never suffered back-to-back home league defeats to the Whites in their history.

The two clubs reunite just a few weeks on from their spectacular 3-3 draw at Elland Road in December, the game that sparked the unforgettable post-match Salah rant and subsequent fallout.

Liverpool's trio of strikes in that game means that they have scored 19 in their last five against Leeds in the Premier League, though, an average of nearly four per game.