Liverpool’s decision to head into the 2026-27 season with just one fit established senior striker meant a lot of both hope and uncertainty for academy graduate Lewis Koumas, who started the season as a 20-year-old with one appearance the sum of his career in Red to date.
That appearance came in the FA Cup against Southampton in February of 2024, and the next two seasons saw Koumas make 105 total appearances for Championship sides Stoke, Birmingham, and Hull City along with earning 16 senior caps for Wales. Still, at the Premier League level he remained a young unknown.
He has now made seven Liverpool appearances for new head coach Andoni Iraola, including starts against Manchester City on the weekend and again against LASK in the Champions League on Wednesday night, which would become the game he scored his first goal in as a Liverpool player.
“It’s nice to get a goal in this competition,” Koumas said following Wednesday’s 6-3 victory. “It’s the highest level of football, so I’m really happy. And it’s a good win, but ultimately we needed a reaction from the last game to try and bounce back. I thought we did that and now need to take that into the weekend.”
Whether or not Koumas starts again on Saturday against Brentford, he seems certain to keep getting chances, particularly through the autumn. Hopefully, given the first two times he found the goal in Red were ruled out for offsides, he can take them without the flag going up.
“You can’t dwell on the misses or the chances that you get and don’t take,” he added of needing three chances to get his first senior goal. “The two were offside and I was just waiting for the next one to come, and it came really late on, but that’s why it’s important to keep level-headed.”
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