First win of the season. Liverpool 2-0 Ipswich. Isak with two goals in nine minutes. Gakpo with two assists a week after he nearly left for Man City. And Ronald Araújo, playing right-back, turning into Virgil van Dijk’s new best friend.

After three episodes of arguing about what’s broken, we finally got to spend one arguing about what worked.

The Gakpo revelation

Start with the man who was almost gone. The City move collapsed inside the final week of the window, and the easy assumption was that we’d get a sulk for six months. Instead: two assists, and the best 90 minutes he’s played in a Liverpool shirt in over a year.

Nobody on the call had this. That’s worth saying out loud, because we spent the window arguing he was surplus.

Professor Sheik: three games, three different Iraolas

Sheik’s segment was the most useful ten minutes of the episode — Iraola’s evolution traced across the full sample. Newcastle: a manager imposing a system that the personnel couldn’t run. Forest: adjusting mid-game, too late. Ipswich: picking a shape for the players he actually has.

Five games unbeaten, and the shape now bends to the squad instead of the other way round. That’s a manager learning in public, which is uncomfortable to watch and better than the alternative.

Araújo solved the problem nobody could solve

Here’s the part that reframes three episodes of complaining. Araújo at right-back: nine duels won, six aerials, zero mistakes. Not “coped”. Dominated.

And the knock-on effect is the real story — Van Dijk had his smoothest game of the season, and it’s entirely because of who was next to him. He didn’t have to cover the channel, didn’t have to step out early, didn’t have to referee a full-back being isolated. He got to be a centre-half.

Which fed the wider point: physical full-backs are back in fashion, and the Arsenal parallel is right there. The league spent five years chasing inverted technicians and is now rediscovering that a defender who wins his duels is quite useful.

So is Frimpong done?

Vivek went first and went hardest: “Frimpong’s Liverpool career is DONE — under 21 or sold.” Given what Araújo just did in that slot, it’s hard to build the counter-case. If your emergency solution is this much better than your signing, the signing has a squad-number problem, not a form problem.

Nobody defended him. Three episodes ago we were debating whether he needed a run of games. That debate is over.

The Kerkez argument (Jins is on his own)

Jins claimed Kerkez is the best left-back in the world. He knows what he’s done. He’ll get roasted in the comments and he’s fine with it.

The awkward part is that the same episode makes the opposite case: with the right side finally solid, Kerkez is now the weak link — and every side we play from here will target him, exactly the way sides targeted the right all season. Solve one flank, expose the other. Welcome to squad-building.

Isak: 18+ guaranteed?

Two goals in nine minutes changes the tone considerably. JD’s projection: 18+ Premier League goals, guaranteed. After the 13-touch performance we dissected a fortnight ago, that’s a swing — but the read is that Isak was never the problem, the service was, and Gakpo just proved it.

The Gakpo–Isak–Barcola linkup got its own ten minutes. Early, but the shapes are starting to make sense together.

Wirtz and the De Bruyne defence

The possession-loss stat came up again, and this time with context that changes it: Wirtz’s numbers are in line with Bruno Fernandes and De Bruyne. Turns out players who take risks in the final third lose the ball a lot. The stat isn’t a verdict, it’s a job description — and last week we were using it as an indictment.

Also filed under “signings quietly working”: Barcola posted the fastest sprint in the Premier League this season, 30 minutes into his first real outing.

Mac Allister: new deal or profit sale?

The uncomfortable business question. New contract or a profit sale this summer? The football answer is obvious. The PSR answer is less obvious, and we didn’t reach agreement.

Atlético at Anfield

Then the small matter of tomorrow night: Simeone, at Anfield, Champions League opener. Can the crowd rattle a manager who has built a career on not being rattled? We’re more optimistic than we were a week ago, which is the whole point of a first win.

Watch the full episode above. Then tell us: is Frimpong finished at Liverpool, and is Jins right about Kerkez? Drop it on YouTube or Instagram below — and your GW4 scorelines are open on the Predictions page.