The night took a devastating turn for Liverpool when Ekitike went down without contact while sprinting. The striker, who arrived from Eintracht Frankfurt for €95 million last summer, received lengthy treatment on the pitch before being carried off.
"Hugo, we all saw on the video and clips, that doesn't look good," Slot said post-match. "For 88 minutes [before] tonight we have played with Florian [Wirtz], Alex and Hugo. We added about 27 to that tonight and I would be surprised if we add more minutes to that this season. The good thing is Alex is back."
Defender Ibrahima Konate echoed his manager's concerns, stating he was praying for his team-mate during what he described as a "very serious" situation.