Arne Slot provides Hugo Ekitike Liverpool injury update ahead of Arsenal showdown

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Arsenal take on the reigning Premier League champions at the Emirates Stadium in midweek and Arne Slot has given an injury update on Hugo Ekitike

Liverpool boss Arne Slot has revealed Hugo Ekitike was left out of the Reds' win over Fulham after the results of an MRI scan were confirmed.

The Reds boss did not want to risk the French forward ahead of the trip to Arsenal on Thursday, after discovering something on said scan, though did not go into too much detail about the nature of the injury.

The defending Premier League champions drew with Fulham 2-2 and though they'd scored a late winner thanks to Cody Gakpo in injury time, but were pegged back in the 97th minute by Harrison Reed.

It was another lacklustre performance from Slot's side, who are 14 points behind Mikel Arteta's men at the top of the Premier League.

When asked about Ekitike's injury in his post-match press conference, Slot said: "Yes, he travelled because he felt something during the training session.

"He went for an MRI scan and we got the results when we were flying. We were hoping it was a bit of DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness), which he also had.

"Why? Because Alex has been out and since Alex has been out, he doesn’t play 60 or 70 minutes and sometimes gets a bit of rest.

"He has to play 80 or 90 minutes every single game for the first time in his life without a winter break and for the first time, at Champions League level. It’s not a big surprise he gets a bit of DOMS.

"We were hoping it would be DOMS and we could have used him as a sub but, unfortunately, we saw a bit more and couldn’t take a risk."

Liverpool are without a recognised centre-forward with record signing Alexander Isak ruled out with a broken leg he sustained in the clash with Spurs last month.

The Reds are also without talisman Mohamed Salah who is on international duty at the African Cup of Nations.

It meant that goal scorer Gakpo moved centrally to lead the line, with Florian Wirtz, Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai operating in behind him.

Arsenal are currently five points clear at the top of the table after their 3-2 win over Bournemouth, with fellow title rivals Man City hot on their tails, albeit Pep Guardiola's side dropped points with a 1-1 draw with Chelsea last night.