Arne Slot IGNORED perfect solution to Hugo Ekitike injury

Eyebrows were raised on Sunday when Liverpool’s pregame graphic dropped for the Premier League match against Fulham at Craven Cottage.

No Hugo Ekitike.

The 23-year-old Frenchman was reported absent owing to a minor injury - later confirmed to be a hamstring issue. That spelt disaster for Liverpool - who went into the game without a recognised centre-forward.

Ekitike was signed for £69m from Eintracht Frankfurt over the summer - carrying the fight up front for the Reds owing the various issues suffered by Alexander Isak.

Currently sidelined with a broken leg, Isak was unfit when he signed before breaking down with a different injury during an intense run of games.

Isak’s problems have placed a greater burden on Ekitike. Liverpool’s centre-forward options are thin beyond their high-profile duo and so he’s ended up playing many more minutes than perhaps he was used to.

Arne Slot makes Ekitike injury admission

“Alexander Isak has been out for a few weeks now. That has meant that Hugo had to play more minutes than he did throughout the whole season,” Slot told Sky Sports.

"That has led to the fact that he picked up a slight hamstring injury, because we had to play him more and more and more minutes.

"For a player that's his age and is not used to the Premier League completely, that has been a bit too much. So, that's why he will be out for today and hopefully be back for the Arsenal game, but that's definitely not sure yet."

Starting with the Leeds game at the start of December Ekitike has played 84, 78, 90, 86 and 90 minutes in his last five Premier League matches.

Prior to the game against Tottenham on December 20 the striker had only been through the 90-minute mark ONCE in his Premier League career.

But the load has been increasing in recent weeks owing to the breakdown of Isak. Slot could - and perhaps should - have seen this coming.

Why didn't Arne Slot use Chiesa?

In much the same way he should have anticipated Isak’s earlier upper leg injury when he was clearly not capable of playing three times in a week.

The head coach made a big error with Ekitike’s overuse - leading to Liverpool losing their top scorer for the away game against Fulham and potentially Arsenal.

But what could he have done differently?

Well for a start take a look at Federico Chiesa’s minutes since that Leeds game at Elland Road. He didn’t play at all that night - and in the following five games he’s played 7, 1, 61, 11 and 5 minutes respectively.

That outlier is Chiesa’s only start of the season - on the right wing against Wolves which was an admittedly poor performance. And he was most recently used for five minutes against Fulham - despite Liverpool’s glaring lack of firepower.

Slot HAS namechecked Chiesa as a potential option through the centre of the attack - utilising the Italian’s talents as a “false 9” of sorts throughout various substitute spells this season.

Slot's players are breaking down

Would it have been too much to ask for Slot to use Chiesa for a little more time in those substitute appearances? Or - heaven forbid - give Ekitike a rest and start Chiesa through the centre?

Worryingly for Slot there is a pattern of him using players until they break down this season.

Not only Ekitike and - previously - Isak. It happened with Dominik Szoboszlai too - with the midfielder playing every single minute for club and country until his injury versus Brighton.

And the same thing happened with Joe Gomez; always a player with a fragile injury record, he played FIVE games in roughly two weeks before breaking down against Brighton.

Liverpool spent £450m over the summer but Slot has not seen fit to freshen up or rotate his squad options. Right now Liverpool are counting the cost of that lack of rotation with Ekitike the latest casualty.

There has got to be a better way to keep the squad fit and ready for action - and using Chiesa more would have been the ideal place to start.

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