Opinions, analysis and commentary
Gakpo, not Diaz or Salah, is the man standing between Bradley Barcola and regular Anfield minutes. Three starts, a goal and three assists in three matches, and Iraola trusts him across all three front positions, even as a makeshift number nine. Barcola arrived from Paris Saint-Germain with World Cup pedigree and a hefty price tag, yet he has made just one substitute appearance so far, totalling 26 minutes. Isak’s explosive return from injury has tightened the squeeze even further, scoring three goals in as many starts.
Isak’s debut season was defined by fitness trouble rather than form. He managed 22 appearances after arriving from Newcastle for a British-record 125 million pounds, missing 28 games across three separate injuries, including a fractured fibula that required surgery and kept him out for 22 straight matches. He still finished with 3 league goals and an assist.
This season looks completely different. Three starts, three goals, including a brace against Ipswich, already matches his entire 2025-26 league return, and he has done it from around 270 minutes on the pitch. When fit, he is simply first choice up front, and that alone reshapes who plays around him. Iraola has been unequivocal that fitness and form, not reputation, decide his central striker every single week this season.
Barcola’s numbers after three matchweeks are stark: one appearance, zero starts, 26 minutes, no goals or assists. He joined from PSG for roughly 123 million pounds in August, arriving on the back of three goals in eight World Cup matches for France and back-to-back Champions League titles, having made 49 appearances with 13 goals and 7 assists in his final Parisian season.
That pedigree hasn’t translated into minutes yet. His natural position is left wing, precisely where Cody Gakpo has started every game so far. For a forward with his resume, 26 minutes through three rounds is a stark holding pattern, and it says everything about how settled Iraola’s front line already looks. Big-money arrivals elsewhere have waited whole seasons for a similar chance, and Barcola may simply need patience.
Under Iraola, Gakpo has started all three league fixtures, playing 251 minutes with a goal and three assists, two of them coming against Ipswich. His FotMob rating sits at 8.29 for the campaign, the kind of number that makes a manager reluctant to tinker.
He isn’t limited to one role either. Against Ipswich, he finished the match as an out-and-out number nine, having already set up two goals from wide, and Iraola has made clear he sees him across all three attacking positions. That flexibility, more than raw output, is what keeps Barcola on the sidelines. Few wide forwards in the league can claim a goal contribution every 63 minutes, a return that is proving hard to ignore.
Liverpool have drawn at Newcastle, drawn at home to Nottingham Forest in front of 60,415 fans, and won away at Ipswich, taking 5 points from a possible 9 with a goal difference of plus 2. That lifted them from 13th on 2 points before matchweek three.
| Player | Appearances | Goals | Assists |
| Alexander Isak | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Cody Gakpo | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| Bradley Barcola | 1 | 0 | 0 |
The table shows exactly why rotation feels unlikely right now. Isak and Gakpo are directly involved in every goal Liverpool have scored this season, while Barcola has yet to register a single contribution. Ipswich away was the clearest example yet, with Isak’s brace either side of two Gakpo assists doing the damage.
Nothing about Barcola’s talent is in question. Liverpool did not spend 123 million pounds on a squad player, and injuries or fatigue will eventually open a door for him across a long campaign. European fixtures and an unforgiving schedule will test the depth this squad has been built to provide.
For now though, the case for change simply is not there. Isak is scoring at a rate he never managed last season, and the Liverpool Bradley Barcola playing time Premier League 2026 picture stays lopsided as long as Gakpo keeps producing a goal contribution every time he steps onto the pitch.
Would you start Barcola ahead of Gakpo right now, or is patience the smarter call? Let us know in the comments.
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Who is Liverpool’s first-choice striker this season?
Alexander Isak, who has started all three Premier League matches so far. He already has 3 goals in 2026-27, matching his entire injury-hit total from last season in just three appearances.
What is Bradley Barcola’s best position at the club?
Left winger, the same role Cody Gakpo currently occupies for Iraola’s side. That overlap is the direct reason Barcola has managed only one substitute appearance through three matchweeks.
Why did the Reds sign Bradley Barcola?
To add proven attacking depth after his standout spell at Paris Saint-Germain. He scored 13 goals with 7 assists in his final PSG season and won back-to-back Champions League titles.
Is Cody Gakpo playing as a winger or a striker now?
Mainly a left winger, though Iraola has used him across all three front positions. He finished the win at Ipswich as the central striker after setting up two goals.
How many goals has Alexander Isak scored since returning from injury?
Three goals in three starts to open the 2026-27 season. His brace against Ipswich alone matched his entire Premier League tally from the previous campaign.
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