Arne Slot used Liverpool\u2019s 3\u20132 Champions League win over Atl\u00e9tico Madrid at Anfield to underline a rotation plan for Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitik\u00e9 while also taking a first look at his new signing. Virgil van Dijk\u2019s last-gasp winner completed a rollercoaster night that saw all three names involved at various points.<\/p>\n
Isak started and logged 58 minutes before being replaced by Ekitik\u00e9. That sequence was planned with fitness in mind: Isak barely had a preseason at Newcastle and needed game time to build up condition. Ekitik\u00e9, who has impressed in the opening weeks of the 2025\u201326 season, benefitted from a spell off the bench and made an immediate impact.<\/p>\n
Slot had hinted at the possibilities before kickoff. He told TNT Sports: \u201cHugo could be a player that plays off the left side, not like the way Cody [Gakpo] or Mo [Salah] is playing with holding the width and taking on the 1-v-1s, but he could become a second striker.\u201d He added: \u201cBut in general, I think both of them [Isak and Ekitike] are more No. 9s than any other position.\u201d<\/p>\n
After the match Slot reiterated his satisfaction with both forwards. He said: \u201cI\u2019m really happy [Isak] could start today. That\u2019s why we didn\u2019t play him against Burnley. He was good today and when Hugo came in, he was a big factor also. We have two great No. 9s and we\u2019re going to use them, both of them, throughout the whole period they\u2019re here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ekitik\u00e9 has already shown comfort operating off the left, with interchanging runs alongside Wirtz and Gakpo through preseason. Slot\u2019s approach gives Liverpool the flexibility to change the shape midgame or name both in starting lineups later in the campaign. That option could prove important as the club defends their Premier League title and pursues silverware across all competitions.<\/p>\n
Slot\u2019s careful management suggests it is unlikely both will start the Merseyside derby against Everton this weekend, though the pair should have involvement in that fixture.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Slot outlined a plan to rotate Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitik\u00e9 after Liverpool’s 3\u20132 win at Anfield.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2890,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[175,969],"tags":[195,299,872],"class_list":["post-2891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-liverpool","category-premier-league","tag-alexander-isak","tag-arne-slot","tag-cody-gakpo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2891","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2891"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2891\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2890"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2891"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}