{"id":474850,"date":"2025-12-27T11:17:17","date_gmt":"2025-12-27T11:17:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/474850\/"},"modified":"2025-12-27T11:17:17","modified_gmt":"2025-12-27T11:17:17","slug":"arne-slot-explains-extra-work-hugo-ekitike-is-doing-at-liverpool-not-always-with-a-smile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/474850\/","title":{"rendered":"Arne Slot explains extra work Hugo Ekitike is doing at Liverpool – ‘Not always with a smile’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Arne Slot backs Hugo Ekitike to stay fit and firing as Liverpool prepare to entertain Wolves on Saturday<\/p>\n

13:30, 26 Dec 2025Updated 07:44, 27 Dec 2025<\/p>\n

\"ArneArne Slot has been fulsome in his praise of Hugo Ekitike(Image: AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Arne Slot has backed an in-form Hugo Ekitike to stay fit and firing during Alexander Isak’s recovery from a broken leg as the Liverpool striker gets set to lead the line against Wolves on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Ekitike<\/a>, who has scored five goals in his last three Premier League<\/a> appearances, is now Slot’s only available senior centre forward after Isak underwent surgery on a broken leg<\/a> at a time when Cody Gakpo is sidelined and Mohamed Salah<\/a> is with Egypt at the Africa Cup of Nations.<\/p>\n

Slot also pointed to Federico Chiesa’s availability but the versatile Italian has made just one Premier League start for the Reds since his move in August 2024.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

OPINION<\/p>\n

\"AuthorTheo SquiresREAD MORE: Diogo Jota’s sons to be Liverpool mascots vs Wolves as Arne Slot sends emotional message<\/a><\/p>\n

A specific timescale is not being placed on Isak’s rehabilitation process but the \u00a3125m forward will be out for a number of months after undergoing surgery last week following the injury he picked up in the 2-1 win at Tottenham Hotspur<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And Slot says Ekitike has worked hard to get to the level he is currently at for the Reds ahead of the visit from the rock-bottom Wolves this weekend.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s shown a lot of hard work to get to this fitness level where he is at the moment. It sometimes took us a bit of convincing (him) that this all is actually really needed to become stronger but he always did it,” Slot said.<\/p>\n

“Not always with a smile on his face but he\u2019s worked really hard to get fitter and fitter on and off the pitch. I\u2019ve tried to convince him as well that the better you defend a set-piece, the bigger chance you have to score a goal at the other end.<\/p>\n

“If it\u2019s 0-0, it\u2019s easier to score a goal than when you\u2019re 1-0 down. This might sound strange but what it does for the energy levels of the other team is a difference. For him to score goals, it\u2019s also important that we hardly concede from set-pieces.<\/p>\n

“He\u2019s worked really hard to get where he is now and I think he\u2019s ready to go into the programme we are facing now but he\u2019s not the only No.9 I have. Federico Chiesa can also play in that position so I have the chance to take him off if he\u2019s completely tired.\u201d<\/p>\n

Slot added: \u201cThe main thing that has changed [during a six-game unbeaten run], apart from the second half at Brighton, is that we haven\u2019t conceded as many chances as we did in the run we had before. I also think we\u2019ve been a bit more lucky than in the games before.<\/p>\n

“We played games where we were so much better than the other team, in terms of everything. The main thing people always look at is chance creation against chances you\u2019ve conceded. In the last game against Spurs, I don\u2019t think we had many more chances than them and against Brighton, it was equal as well. But we won those two games.<\/p>\n

“Many times, we\u2019ve been so unlucky with the result. In the last two games, I wouldn’t say we don\u2019t deserve it but it was more equal than many other games we\u2019ve played and lost. That\u2019s the nice part of football that the performance doesn\u2019t always give you the result.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Arne Slot backs Hugo Ekitike to stay fit and firing as Liverpool prepare to entertain Wolves on Saturday…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":474851,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[4426,2375,1836,221,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-474850","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-soccer","8":"tag-arne-slot","9":"tag-hugo-ekitike","10":"tag-liverpool-fc","11":"tag-soccer","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115791256227202319","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=474850"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474850\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/474851"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=474850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=474850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=474850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}