Liverpool have been handed yet another major injury blow in the openign minutes of this afternoon’s Premier League clash against Brighton.
The Reds have made the trip to the south coast without two of their most important players in Mo Salah and Alisson Becker, both of whom have injuries of their own with which to contend, and the probelms piled up even further for Arne Slot within minutes of the delayed kick-off at the Amex Stadium.
Hugo Ekitike went to ground after an accidental collision with James Milner, and it quickly became apparent that the Frenchman was in some distress.
After receiving some medical attention, the 23-year-old briefly attempted to continue, but it was soon evident that his afternoon was over, and he hobbled down the tunnel to be replaced by Curtis Jones, with the Liverpool Echo’s Paul Gorst describing it as a ‘huge blow’ for the outgoing champions.
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With Slot already being deprived of Salah and Alexander Isak, it leaves Liverpool worryingly short of attacking options, and the only consolation is that the international window gives some breathing space for the stricken forwards to recover.
The Swedish striker is earmarked for a potential return in the Champions League quarter-final against Paris Saint-Germain next month, but having had a delayed start to the season and not played since Chrtistmas, he’ll naturally take a few matches to get properly up to speed.
The extent of Ekitike’s injury remains to be seen, but if the Frenchman is to be sidelined for a few weeks, it could compel Slot to deploy Cody Gakpo at centre-forward, in the absence of any natural senior options for the number 9 role.
The domino effect may lead to further starts for Rio Ngumoha, something for which many Liverpool fans have clamoured with good reason, although there’s no disputing that the absence of our top scorer this season during the post-Easter run-in would be a massive body blow.
Fingers crossed that it isn’t a serious issue and that our number 22 can return to action as swiftly as possible.
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