Arne Slot has confirmed that Liverpool striker Hugo Ekitike suffered a back injury during Wednesday night’s 4-1 defeat to PSV in the Champions League.
The France international was one of two changes in the lineup, coming in for Alexander Isak, and looked bright in the first half as the teams went into the break level at 1-1.
However, Hugo Ekitike, who joined Liverpool for £79m from Eintracht Frankfurt in July, was substituted for Isak after the interval due to what initially appeared to be a muscle issue.
Slot later clarified in his post-match press conference that the forward was actually experiencing a back spasm.
Providing an update post-match, head coach Slot told TNT Sports: “Especially at the start of the second half, I constantly felt, ‘What’s wrong with Hugo?’ It felt as if he couldn’t move as he did [in] the first half. So, that’s why our press was, I think, also a little bit off.
“And he just told me that in the first five to 10 minutes of the first half he already felt his back too much. That’s also why he had to go out.”
Dominik Szoboszlai had equalized following Ivan Perisic’s early penalty, but PSV regained the lead through Guus Til after the break.
Substitute Couhaib Driouech then struck twice to secure a 4-1 win, condemning Liverpool to their third straight defeat in all competitions and their ninth loss in their last 12 matches.
The defeat leaves Liverpool 13th in the Champions League group stage, with three wins and two defeats from five games.
The top eight teams automatically advance to the round of 16, while those finishing ninth to 24th enter the knockout phase play-offs, with the first eight seeded and the next eight unseeded.
Liverpool face a challenging trip to fourth-placed Inter Milan on December 9 before visiting Marseille, who are currently 21st, and hosting Qarabag, who sit 19th, in the new year.
Their next fixture is a Premier League match at West Ham United on Sunday.
Read more: Arne Slot addresses his Liverpool future after humiliating defeat to PSV
Bournemouth expecting official bids for Liverpool target Antoine Semenyo in January
PSV boss Peter Bosz backs Arne Slot to turn around Liverpool’s fortunes
