Cody Gakpo reveals Liverpool method for measuring stress during penalties

Cody Gakpo has given an unusual insight into how Liverpool work on players' penalty taking, by measuring stress levels with a special hat.

The Reds have a famously strong record from the spot and have ended up victorious on the last last four occasions their games have gone all the way to a dreaded penalty shootout  – including the League and FA Cup finals of 2022.

Gakpo, who only joined the Reds at the start of this year, is yet to be involved in a shootout at his new club and has never been called upon to step up to the spot during a game either, with Mohamed Salah the regular penalty taker.

The Dutchman does have a decent record from 12 yards, however, netting four out of five penalties thus far in his career.

Speaking to Algemeen Dagblad during the international break, the 24-year-old revealed that Liverpool have special methods for dealing with the mental pressure when it comes to taking penalties.

"At Liverpool they measure our brain activity during penalties. This is done via a hat with electrodes on your head,” Gakpo said.

“You gain insight into how stress works in your brain and they try to help you keep control of it. You cannot imitate everything when training for penalties.

"There is always pressure. And you can miss. You have no guarantees. But you can also do quite a lot. In any case, I never dread taking a penalty.”

The former PSV forward is far from the only decent spot-kick option Liverpool have, if needed. Along with Salah, the likes of Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, Darwin Nuñez and Virgil van Dijk are all experienced penalty takers for previous clubs or at international level.

Salah has 36 penalty goals to his name throughout his career, including three for the Reds in the Premier League already this season. He has however, missed eight from the spot – most recently against Bournemouth back in August. On that occasion, he did score from the rebound, however.