We have the official confirmation now, on the injury suffered by Liverpool striker Hugo Ekitike in Tuesday night’s UCL loss to Paris Saint-Germain. It is in fact a ruptured Achilles, as had been feared. Ekitike now joins Wataru Endo, Conor Bradley and Giovanni Leoni as Reds players who are now done for the season, due to injury.
“Devastating for him,” Liverpool manager Arne Slot said.
Merseyside Derby FYIs
Kickoff: 4pm, Sunday April 19, Hill Dickinson Stadium, Liverpool
Google Result Probability: Liverpool win 42% Draw 28% Everton win 30%
Team News: Liverpool Everton
Records: Liverpool 15-7-10 Everton 13-8-11
Position in Premier League Table: Liverpool 52 points, 5th Everton 47 points, 8th
Reds Team News
“Coming to a new club, having so much impact straight away, playing against your former club in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, with so much to come for him in the summer. Your first thoughts are with him, being out for such a long time, missing out on so many special moments. But he’s not the first or the last player who has experienced something like this at the start of his career.:
Ekitike will also miss out on the World Cup this summer with France, as his timeline for return to action is some time in the fall.
“There are so many examples of players that came back even stronger and that’s the challenge he has now,” Slot continued.
“I’m 100 percent sure he will be one of those that in 10, 15 years’ time will say maybe his injury even helped him to become stronger, to become even more ready to perform at an even higher level than he did before.”
Best of luck to him, as this really is a devastating blow for both Ekitike and the club.
Elsewhere Joe Gomez is a fresh injury concern, as he had to be subbed off against PSG. He has an unspecified muscular injury, and the issue is bad enough to rule him out for Sunday. Friday’s media session also brought an update on the youngster Jayden Danns.
“The good thing for him is that he’s been out for such a long time and he’s now getting back with the U21s, getting some playing time,” Slot said earlier today.
“But I think there’s still a lot of steps to be made if you’ve not even played 90 minutes [for] the U21s, let alone then play a Premier League game.
“But the first thing that comes to my mind is that he’s worked so hard – I know this because I’ve seen him around over here a lot – to be where he is now and he’s also been so unlucky to be out for such a long time.
“I really like him to be back but the reality is that he’s not on the bench for us this weekend.” Also, Alisson Becker remains out until May.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, Ratings and RG. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes and the Washington Post.