Jurgen Klopp stated he will need all of his attackers during the demanding holiday season, rejecting concerns that Cody Gakpo’s brace against LASK may have put him ahead of Darwin Nunez in his pecking order.

Gakpo gave a reminder of his abilities as he assisted the Reds in winning 4-0 and moving on to the Europa League knockout rounds by scoring twice and hitting the post.

The Dutchman has not had many opportunities to play center striker recently, as Nunez has become Klopp’s go-to choice. However, Thursday’s match offered him a unique opportunity to excel in that position.

But, in response to a question about whether Gakpo may have altered the status quo in light of his outstanding performance, his manager said, “No, it is not about that; the boys don’t have to convince me in the games.”

“This is my squad, this my team, and they play. If somebody is not in extremely awful shape and you think, ‘my God what is going on with him?’ – and that didn’t happen for a long, long time – then we just decide for the game and these kind of things.

“This is the most intense period in world football coming up now, that’s how it is, for all the teams. So they will all play.

“We have already Diogo not in so that is not helpful, and so we have to share these minutes with different players. They have to perform, not always 90 but 60/70 and full throttle, that’s how it is.

“Darwin is in a top moment and that didn’t change. [He is] super important for us and that he didn’t start [vs. LASK] has nothing to do with anything else.

“Now Cody scored twice, fantastic, does that mean he has to play the next five games in a row? Other players score as well, it’s not about that, and Cody doesn’t expect that.

“They have to score, that’s the job, that’s what they want, but it’s not that I now have sleepless nights and don’t know how to start. It’s not that much [of] a choice, to be honest.”

This season, Nunez has contributed seven times to the scoreboard with six assists, compared to Gakpo’s six goals and one assist.