Steven Gerrard has urged Arne Slot to drop Cody Gakpo and hand Rio Ngumoha a starting role for Liverpool's second trip to Wolves in the FA Cup on Friday evening. The Reds head to Molineux for the second occasion in three days after Tuesday's 2-1 loss in the Premier League.

Following Mohamed Salah's equaliser to Rodrigo Gomes' opening effort, it appeared the Reds were set to claim a point from the encounter in the West Midlands. However, Andre struck a dramatic 94th-minute winner for Wolves to inflict Liverpool's first defeat in five games.

Slot's team haven't got much time to reflect on the outcome, though, as they gear up to make the journey to the Black Country in fewer than 72 hours. And Gerrard reckons that Slot should implement one significant alteration to his starting XI for the FA Cup fifth-round clash.

Following Virgil van Dijk's assessment of the Reds as sluggish and predictable, Gerrard agreed and suggested that Slot should field Ngumoha ahead of Gakpo, who struggled to make an impact before being withdrawn in the 65th minute.

Speaking to TNT Sports, Liverpool legend Gerrard said: "He's right because for 65 minutes, Liverpool were desperate tonight, really poor. [They] didn't create enough, didn't play at the right speed or the right tempo, they didn't have the right quality.

"He has to start Ngumoha now, he has to start him because he's coming on and doing more in a short cameo and in a short space of time than Gakpo is doing in 65/70 minutes. He deserves a start now. He's got the start the kid on Friday night."

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Ngumoha came on for Gakpo during the closing 25 minutes plus stoppage time at Molineux and demonstrated his quality whilst on the field. The 17-year-old struck the woodwork and appeared to be a more potent attacking option than Gakpo.

The forward, born in 2008, has featured 19 times for the first team, scoring twice. He was named in the starting line-up for the FA Cup third round win over Barnsley before appearing as a substitute for the final 13 minutes as the Reds overcame Brighton in the fourth round.

Slot appeared exasperated following Liverpool's loss at Wolves but believed his team deserved all three points, having generated opportunities after Salah's 83rd-minute leveller.

"It should have gone the other way," Slot claimed. "You're mentioning Virgil's chance but don't forget when Mo Salah is having a counter and both sides there are people free.

"He tried to find Dom [Szoboszlai] but someone got a foot in between. Those are moments that give a different result. [The goal was a] good moment for Mo; a good action. It was a bit lucky because they lost the ball in relatively simple situation.

"It was a good from open play, we have not scored that many from open play recently. We do create chances from open play, not as many as I would like, but enough to score more goals than we do."

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