Florian Wirtz of Liverpool celebrates scoring his team's third goal with teammate Mohamed Salah during the Premier League match between Liverpool and Newcastle United at Anfield on January 31, 2026 in Liverpool, England.placeholder image
Florian Wirtz of Liverpool celebrates scoring his team's third goal with teammate Mohamed Salah during the Premier League match between Liverpool and Newcastle United at Anfield on January 31, 2026 in Liverpool, England. | Getty Images
Liverpool beat Newcastle United 4-1 at Anfield on Saturday night with summer signing Hugo Ekitike inspiring the victory
Liverpool midfielder Florian Wirtz has heaped praise on teammate Hugo Ekitike after the striker’s double inspired the Reds to a 4-1 win over Newcastle United on Saturday night at Anfield.
The Magpies took the lead through Anthony Gordon after 36 minutes but the hosts were ahead before the break as two goals in as many minutes from Ekitike put the Reds ahead as they would go on to win the game comfortably.
Ekitike’s first goal was created by Wirtz, who nipped through a group of Newcastle players and cut the ball back for the Frenchman to score. The £78m summer addition from Eintracht Frankfurt then showed great pace to reach a ball from Milos Kerkez and produced a jaw-dropping finish across Nick Pope to put Liverpool in front.
Wirtz made it 3-1 in the second half with Ibrahima Konate sealing the win with a goal in the 93rd minute.
"He is just unbelievable," Wirtz said of Ekitike.
"You can see him today again two fantastic goals, and it is just fun to play with him on the pitch. Happy I could assist him again today after many assists from him to me."
He added: "I am very happy. As I said before the game I always love to score and assist and help the team to win. I want to continue like that because it makes you happy and gives you more confidence. When you can help the team win it is always good."
Then on Saturday night, the Reds legend compared Ekitike to Liverpool icon Fernando Torres.
He said of Ekitike’s second goal: “It's Torres-like. He just gets it out of his feet and it's that toe poke. He reminds me of Torres, this player, every time I watch him.
“He's scoring similar types of goals, where if you give him space in the channel, he'll run it, he's too quick, you can't catch him and he's deadly.”
Ekitike has scored 15 goals and provided four assists in 32 appearances for the Reds this season. With several of Liverpool’s summer signings struggling to settle at the club, the Frenchman scored on his debut in the Community Shield and has not looked back.
At the age of 23, he has plenty more to offer in the coming years.
Continue Reading