As we get to the business end of the Premier League season, all 20 clubs are in action over the next three days and a host of managers are talking today. Keep track of all the news here with Daily Mail Sport…
Ekitike will come back stronger, says Slot
Arne Slot has backed Hugo Ekitike to come back even stronger from a long-term Achilles injury – and says the blow vindicates Liverpool’s much-critiqued decision to splash cash on two No 9s.
The Reds paid £204million, including potential add-ons, for Ekitike and Alexander Isak in the summer but Slot has scarcely had the luxury of choosing which one to play given a long-term injury apiece.
Liverpool believe it has been rotten luck for the club and Slot said: ‘Someone said to me the day after (Tuesday’s game against Paris Saint-Germain), you cannot write the script that on the day Alex is back after four months the other one leaves the pitch with a long-term injury.
‘But it is a good thing Alex is back now even more, although it wouldn’t be the first game I have to play without a particular type in a particular position. I have had many games this season where I didn’t have a right full back available.
‘It is nice to have Alex back but we also know he is not ready to play 90 yet.’
Isak missed three and a half months with a fractured fibula and has not been fully fit since his British record arrival. Now Ekitike is out for the rest of season, World Cup and probably a significant chunk of next term with a ruptured Achilles.
Hugo Ekitike suffered a season-ending injury that also rules him out of the World Cup
Slot said: ‘He hasn’t been operated on yet. It is devastating for him, coming to a new club and having such an impact straight away. Your first thoughts are always with him, being out for such a long time and missing out on so many special moments.
‘He is not the first and he will not be the last player who will experience something like this at the start of his career and there are so many examples of players that have come back even stronger.
‘That’s the challenge he has now and I’m 100 per cent sure in 10 or 15 years he will maybe even say, “this injury helped me become even stronger and even more ready to perform at an even higher level than before”.’
Slot added: ‘It is a good thing we have signed two No 9s because there were a lot of people who were debating why we signed two No 9s.
‘We thought maybe it’s a smart idea not to be the only club in the world that has only one No 9 and that’s why we signed two and now all of a sudden that looks good and now people are maybe questioning if we should sign another No 9!’
The Reds contest the first-ever Hill Dickinson Stadium Merseyside Derby on Sunday and will be without full back Joe Gomez, who went off in the defeat to PSG with a muscle problem. Alisson is stepping up his recovery from a hamstring issue but remains a doubt.
Lewis Steele
