“One of the worst I have seen” – Pundit blasts Liverpool forward for what he did in 4-1 loss to Manchester City

BBC pundit Chris Sutton has blasted Cody Gakpo for his dive against Manchester City. He claimed it was one of the worst he had seen and the practice needed to be stopped.

Manchester City defeated Liverpool 4-1 last Saturday despite going 1-0 down early in the game. Gakpo dived to try and win a penalty but escaped without a booking during the match.

Speaking on 606 on BBC Radio 5 Live Sport, Sutton claimed that it was time for fans and pundits to call out the divers. He wants the playacting stopped and said:

"We are going to keep calling all you divers out. But the winner of this week's simulation game, the player of the award you don't want to win, is Cody Gakpo. Come on! Stop it! Dutch diver. That was one of the worst I have seen. He is better than that – Cody Gakpo, you are a good player, but just stop it because we will carry on calling you out."

Jurgen Klopp happy with Liverpool star's start

Cody Gakpo was signed by Liverpool in a swift move in the winter window after Manchester United tried and failed in the summer. The Dutchman joined from PSV Eindhoven soon after the FIFA World Cup ended and completed his move on January 1.

Speaking about the forward earlier this year, Klopp said:

"His defending is outstanding. Now everyone will say, 'OK we bought a striker and [you] talk about defending' but the defending in this position is outstanding, the centre position. That's really what we need. Everybody in this team is used to when the ball goes wide [then] goes inside to the six, that there is somebody around."

He added:

"Then, all of a sudden there is nobody around and they pass the ball from there. Against Chelsea [they had] two sixes, Brighton two sixes; that's the engine room, the decisive room, of a football pitch and we just let them pass the ball and, 'Whoops, done.' That's just not possible, so that's really good.

Gakpo has scored four goals in his 10 Premier League games so far, including a brace in the 7-0 thrashing of Manchester United.