Liverpool will be without six players when it takes on Everton, with Hugo Ekitike the latest to face a lengthy spell on the sidelines after he picked up an Achilles injury
09:26, 17 Apr 2026Updated 09:39, 17 Apr 2026
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot.
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot.(Image: PETER POWELL / AFP via Getty Images)
Joe Gomez will miss Sunday's Merseyside derby with the injury that forced him off against PSG earlier this week, Arne Slot has confirmed, making it six players that the Reds will be missing in total.
Hugo Ekitike was stretchered off against PSG earlier this week and he faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines. It was confirmed yesterday that he will miss the World Cup, though there is no exact timeline being placed on his return.
Aside from Ekitike, Liverpool will also be without Alisson Becker against Everton. The Brazilian remains out with his latest injury, while Giovanni Leoni, Wataru Endo and Conor Bradley are long-term absentees.
READ MORE: Hugo Ekitike will force Liverpool change as Arne Slot faces Rio Ngumoha dilemmaREAD MORE: 9 players could leave Liverpool this summer in mass overhaul after awful season
"He hasn't been operated on yet," Slot confirmed on Ekitike. "Devastating for him. Coming to a new club, having so much impact straight away...
"Your first thoughts are with him for missing out for such a long time, but there are so many examples of players that came back even stronger."
Jamie Carragher was among the pundits to question why Liverpool signed Ekitike and Isak in the same window, but it was clear that the Reds needed two quality number nines.
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 13: Alexander Isak of Liverpool comes on for Hugo Ekitike of Liverpool during the Premier League match between Liverpool and Brighton & Hove Albion at Anfield on December 13, 2025 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images)
Liverpool's hope of pairing up Alexander Isak (centre) and Hugo Ekitike (right) next season, to help ease the burden left by the departure of Mohamed Salah (left), have been hit by the latter's serious injury(Image: Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images)
Across the course of the season, they have barely been fit at the same time, with Ekitike now set to be out for months just when Isak has returned from a broken leg.
"It's a good thing we signed two number nines," Slot continued. "Lots of people were debating why we signed two, but now it looks like a good (idea). Now people are saying we should sign another in the summer!
"Someone said to me the day that you cannot write the script that on the day Alex is back, on his first start, the other (Ekitike) leaves the pitch with a long-term injury.
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"It's even more of a good thing that Alex is back, but it wouldn't be the first time I didn't have someone available in a certain position, such as right-back. And Alex, we know, is not ready to play 90 yet."
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