Arne Slot has said he cannot afford to ‘overload’ Hugo Ekitike after Liverpool’s leading scorer was not in the squad to face Fulham.
Ekitike was a notable omission from the Liverpool team sheet, as the Reds drew 2-2 at Craven Cottage on Sunday.
A last-gasp equaliser from Harrison Reed earned Fulham a point, and condemned Liverpool to a second straight league draw. The champions are now 14 points behind leaders Arsenal.
Liverpool’s official statement was that Ekitike was nursing a hamstring issue and the club were not willing to risk the French forward in West London. Slot’s side next take on Arsenal in a huge Premier League fixture on Monday night.
Discussing his side’s draw at Fulham and Ekitike’s absence, Slot told Sky Sports: “In an away game, scoring two goals should maybe be enough to win the game. It’s not for the first time this season that we fight so hard and think we have a win but concede an incredible strike. We brought Joe Gomez in but they took it short. We missed out on a good result.
“We had our chances in the first half. We had a similar one with Cody Gakpo that they scored from. In an ideal world, we see a Liverpool team that is dominant but creates more chances. We scored two goals, scored two disallowed goals and hit the bar. Again, it wasn’t enough.
“The players are giving everything they have. I have to keep in mind that I have to keep them available. Alexander Isak is out and I have to overload or play Hugo more, a player who has never played in the Premier League. You have to manage that. We still have 11 very good players on the pitch.
“It’s not only for us, but many teams don’t create chances every game. It’s not perfect but at least we’ve created a few more chances today than last week.”
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