Hugo Ekitike has played down concern over his hamstring injury after Liverpool’s 1-0 defeat to Galatasaray in the Champions League on Tuesday night.
Arne Slot’s side were beaten in Turkey as Victor Osimhen’s penalty in the 16th minute sealed Galatasaray’s win.
Ekitike, meanwhile, was forced off in the 68th minute with a hamstring injury and is now an early doubt for Liverpool’s Premier League match away to Chelsea on Saturday.
‘He felt something when he had to reach for the ball,’ Slot said after Liverpool’s defeat.
‘I think we all know which one it was when we were trying to force something.
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‘I think at that moment in time, on the other side there was someone on the floor as well, so the referee blew his whistle and I wasn’t even thinking we had an injury, but Hugo felt something.
‘After the game, that’s always the difficult thing with these moments when players feel like it is not too bad, but when you just walk around it is something different than when you make a sprint or have to shoot on target. He said he couldn’t continue so we had to take him off. Let’s see how he is for the weekend.’
However, The Athletic’s James Pearce reported from RAMS Park after the game that Ekitike was not overly concerned with his hamstring issue.
‘Hugo Ekitike confident he only had cramp in his hamstring rather than anything more serious,’ Pearce wrote on X.
Ekitike, who has scored four goals in all competitions this season, is now expected to undergo a scan to assess the extent of his injury ahead of Liverpool’s visit to Chelsea this weekend.
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