Hugo Ekitike of Liverpool celebrates scoring his team's second goal with teammates during the Premier League match between Liverpool and Brighton & Hove Albion at Anfield on December 13, 2025 in Liverpool, England.placeholder image
Hugo Ekitike of Liverpool celebrates scoring his team's second goal with teammates during the Premier League match between Liverpool and Brighton & Hove Albion at Anfield on December 13, 2025 in Liverpool, England. | Getty Images
Liverpool beat Brighton and Hove Albion 2-0 on Saturday afternoon - as Hugo Ekitike stood out for the Reds
Liverpool striker Hugo Ekitike made it four goals in his last two Premier League games as he netted a double in Saturday’s 2-0 win over Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday afternoon.
The Frenchman scored twice at Elland Road last weekend as Liverpool drew 3-3 with Leeds United in West Yorkshire.
The forward arrived at Anfield from Eintracht Frankfurt during the summer in a deal worth up to £78m. In an age of big-money deals, Ekitike has already shown he is worth the fee that was forked out for him.
He could arguably be the club’s best signing since Luis Suarez. The Frenchman is only 23 and has his best years ahead of him. Suarez was also signed when he was at a younger phase in his career and even though he left in a £75m deal for Barcelona, he is still fondly remembered at Anfield for the way he found the net with ease - especially in his final season at the club.
Many thought Ekitike might have had to play second fiddle once Alexander Isak completed his £125m move from Newcastle United but it is the Frenchman who has been the better of the two in the opening months of the season.
He played 78 minutes against Brighton, scoring twice from seven shots. He made four successful dribbles from four attempts and also made four recoveries as he worked hard defensively. He was also tenacious, with six out of eight ground duels won.
Ekitike was handed a 9/10 rating by Liverpool World, as Will Rooney wrote: “Took his goal superbly and might have been disappointed he didn't have another before the break. Energy stretched the Brighton defence. Continued to wreak havoc after the break and after spurning two good chances, made no mistake with his header. Subbed in the 78th minute.”
Speaking about why he was subbed off, manager Arne Slot said: “Just before I took him off there was a moment, I don't know what happened, but I think he hardly could walk anymore because of cramp.
“What I see with him and I see this with all the players we've brought in this summer, they had to adapt to the Premier League, to that intensity, because they were all young. All the players we brought in are young players, except for Alex [Isak], but all the others are very young.
“So, adapting to the Premier League, that intensity, some of them had to adapt to the Premier League and [the] Champions League. I see all of them making progress in that. So, Hugo has cramp today but I can assure you that he did probably twice as much as in games in the beginning of the season where I had to take him off with cramp as well. That is what this league brings.
“If you cannot be so intense for such a long time, it's so hard to win a game of football because the best players, athletes, in the world play in this league, and we are trying to prepare them more and more, better and better for that – and I can see that progress with most of our signings, maybe all of them.”
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