Liverpool have used Cody Gakpo as their center forward so far, despite Jürgen Klopp having two opportunities to change that during the recent game with Chelsea.

There were not that many things to learn from Liverpool’s goalless draw with Chelsea. Familiar issues emerged for both sides, and the game had the feel of a proper mid-table clash, representative of the places the two teams currently occupy.

Neither side looked confident and the drop-off from their meetings at Wembley in each of the domestic cup competitions last season was huge, only made clearer in the fixture the following day when Arsenal beat Manchester United.

Liverpool, quite simply, is undergoing a period of change. It is a transition season and the challenge is to make sure that the transition does not carry into next season, too — a campaign which looks increasingly likely not to feature the Champions League, much as Jürgen Klopp’s side need to be in it.

Two players who very much represent the ‘new’ era at Anfield, even if they are going to need to fast become a key part of the ‘now’, are Darwin Núñez and Cody Gakpo.

Klopp was unable to start with the former as he was not back to 100 per cent fitness after a recent hamstring injury. Instead, Gakpo was joined up top by Mohamed Salah and Harvey Elliott.

As discussed in this piece, it would have made a lot more sense for Liverpool to play Salah centrally, with Gakpo off the left-hand side and Elliott from the right — or, at least, to have tried it for a period.

Instead, Klopp persisted with Gakpo being the focal point, even when the Liverpool attack looked blunt. Trent Alexander-Arnold was a big miss at full-back but even his introduction in the second half did not change things significantly.

Núñez came on and made some difference, but, interestingly, it was not through the middle that he was asked to play. Rather, he played off the left and Gakpo remained through the center until the Netherlands man was taken off with eight minutes to play.

Both from the start and then when Klopp changed things up, the German left Gakpo through the middle, despite him having played most of his football for PSV from a wide berth.

Whether or not that continues over the course of the next few fixtures remains to be seen, but on both occasions that Klopp could have played him there, he opted not to, seemingly intent on keeping his new signing in the center.

Perhaps Liverpool just did not want to upset the balance in the team and risk losing the game, but perhaps this was also a double hint at where Gakpo’s future lies. He impressed centrally for his country at the World Cup, and the early indications are that the center-forward role — the one he said he preferred during his Anfield unveiling — is where he will end up long-term.