Steven Gerrard prediction comes true as Liverpool youngster matches 'unbelievable' European record

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With Cody Gakpo and Alexander Isak missing from the matchday squad due to injuries, Andoni Iraola turned to 21-year-old Koumas fresh off a productive loan spell in the Championship with Hull City and handed him his very first Premier League start on the biggest stage imaginable.Liverpool however suffered a sobering 3-0 defeat on home soil, but during his 75 minutes on the pitch before being replaced by Rio Ngumoha, Koumas showed a level of fight and graft that stood out amidst the gloom.Speaking on The Overlap daily after the match, Gerrard couldn't hide his pride at seeing a kid from Kirkby thrown into the deep end against the champions:"I love seeing young kids get opportunities and take them, and he was thrown in at the deep end yesterday," Gerrard explained. And you know what, he'd done himself proud, he'd done the academy proud."For Gerrard, watching Koumas run his heart out triggered warm personal memories.

Long before Jason Koumas became a staple of 2000s football with West Brom, he was a kid playing alongside Gerrard in Liverpool’s youth setup."I came through Liverpool's academy with his dad," Gerrard recalled. If you get the right coaching around him and they don't just allow him to be part of a team, improve him individually and let him be part of our squad, I think there's a future for him."Fast forward 72 hours to Linz, Austria, and Koumas didn't just validate Gerrard's prediction—he wrote his name alongside him in the Liverpool history books.Starting on the right flank in a wild 6-3 Champions League victory, Koumas delivered a performance of terrifying maturity.

Then, in the 72nd minute having already seen two well-worked goals ruled out for tight offsides he tucked away Jeremie Frimpong's bouncing cross through the goalkeeper's legs.Look how much it means to Lewis Koumas to score Liverpool’s sixth of the night 🥹📺 Stream now on TNT Sports & HBO Max pic.twitter.com/fLYhslbFGq— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) October 14, 2026In doing so, Koumas became only the second player in Liverpool’s entire history aged 21 or under to score and assist in a single Champions League fixture. In Linz, Koumas added the end product to match.With Villarreal next up in Europe and a grueling domestic winter schedule ahead, Koumas hasn't just proved he can belong in Iraola's squad he's proved the legendary captain completely right that he does have a future in the first team.Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow