To My Eyes, Hugo Ekitiké Suits Liverpool Perfectly

(But what Liverpool want may be slightly different to what I like, and he won't be cheap)

While this season is still to be savoured, as is a summer spent as champions, people are talking about improving the team, and the various possible signings. Obviously a new no.9 seems one of the more obvious ways to improve an already excellent team.

Personally, I don’t think Liverpool need an Erling Haaland who offers nothing but goals, but something closer to a Roberto Firmino, who will get 10-20 non-penalty goals but ideally offer pace, work-rate, creativity, dribbling skills, assists and aerial threat. Someone who knits it together.

Slot has said he wants goals from his no.9 (as everyone has to contribute), but clearly you need to do much more too, especially when you are also there to support to goal-threat of the right-winger, and help mop-up his share of pressing (which is why Dominik Szoboszlai has been essential).

Do you look for a striker who simply outscores his xG? Haaland does that, but again, there’s far too much evidence since he’s arrived that City are worse with him. I said in 2022 that they just looked less of a team with him just stuck up top, as a disjointed but elite finisher. Benjamin Šeško looks a good finisher, with pace and skill, but his data doesn’t stand out. Again, he’s only 21. Definitely one to keep an eye on.

Someone said that Hugo Ekitiké’s stats against the xG are terrible this year, but he’s 22, and at 19 had an incredible season of overshooting his xG that led to perhaps a premature move to PSG, who were a dysfunctional club full of superstar attackers, and where he didn’t get much of a shout.

The reason why I’ve picked him out is that using 100+ Opta metrics from FBref, he looks the most complete centre-forward out there, outside of the un-gettable elite. This was before he was more heavily linked with the Reds.

And, as I’ll show, finishing, even amongst the elite, is massively variable when it comes to overperforming or underperforming the xG, and is not a foolproof judge of a striker.

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