Hugo Ekitike was anticipated to begin his seventh successive recreation for Liverpool at Fulham however was omitted of the squad totally, and is now unsure for the journey to Arsenal.
With Alexander Isak sidelined for the foreseeable after sustaining a damaged leg, the onus to guide Liverpool’s assault fell on Ekitike, who has performed 517 of Liverpool’s final 540 minutes of motion.
The Frenchman was anticipated to be within the beginning lineup at Craven Cottage and at worst on the bench, however he was as a substitute omitted totally.
Hugo Ekitike’s damage: Why he was omitted vs. Fulham
• Hamstring blow: The Frenchman is out of the Fulham conflict with a minor hamstring challenge brought on by a current heavy workload.
• Striker disaster: With Alexander Isak additionally sidelined, Arne Slot has named a makeshift entrance three of Szoboszlai, Wirtz, and Gakpo.
• Arsenal doubt: Ekitike has contributed to 6 objectives within the final six video games, however stays a significant doubt for Thursday’s journey to the Emirates.
The membership declared that his absence was resulting from “a minor health challenge,” with Slot later telling Sky Sports activities that it’s a hamstring damage regarding his current workload.
“Alexander Isak has been out for a number of weeks now,” Slot began. “That has meant that Hugo needed to play extra minutes that he did all through the entire season.
“That has led to the truth that he he picked up a slight hamstring damage as a result of he needed to play increasingly more minutes.
“For a participant that’s his age and isn’t used to the Premier League utterly, that has been a bit an excessive amount of.
“That’s why he will probably be out for at this time and hopefully be again for the Arsenal recreation. However that’s positively undecided but.”
Ekitike’s absence leaves Slot with no recognised No. 9 for the Premier League fixture at Fulham, with Dominik Szoboszlai, Florian Wirtz and Cody Gakpo forming the Reds’ assault.
And Slot didn’t sound overly optimistic he can be accessible towards Arsenal on Thursday night, which might require one other makeshift ahead line.
It’s an premature blow for Liverpool as Ekitike has had a hand in six of the final 10 objectives for Liverpool, with 5 objectives and one help.
There have been considerations a health challenge can be the result for the 23-year-old at some stage, having needed to shoulder the accountability of the assault resulting from accidents elsewhere.
Of Liverpool’s earlier 13 video games in all competitions, Ekitike began 10 and performed greater than 80 minutes in 5 of the final six.
