Why Hugo Ekitiké Deserves to Be Liverpool’s First-Choice Striker Over Alexander Isak

In a season of widespread disappointment for Liverpool, Hugo Ekitiké has emerged as the one summer signing who unequivocally delivered from day one. While Florian Wirtz and Milos Kerkez have shown recent improvement, and Alexander Isak continues to struggle with adaptation, the 23-year-old French striker has put together a body of work that raises a fascinating question: should he now be considered Liverpool’s main striker ahead of the £125 million Isak?

The statistics paint a compelling picture. Ekitiké has netted 10 goals in 23 appearances across all competitions, seven of those coming in just 10 Premier League starts. Meanwhile, Isak has managed only two goals in 15 games. The contrast couldn’t be starker, and it’s forcing Arne Slot to confront an uncomfortable reality about his expensive summer acquisition.

The Numbers Tell a Decisive Story

Hugo Ekitiké’s impact at Liverpool has been immediate and measurable. His seven Premier League goals in his first 10 starts equals the tally Mohamed Salah managed in his opening 10—only Daniel Sturridge bettered that mark with eight goals. For a player who arrived with question marks following his Paris Saint-Germain struggles, this represents a remarkable vindication.

The Frenchman is averaging 0.72 non-penalty goals per 90 minutes in the Premier League. Among players with at least 500 minutes this season, only Erling Haaland (1.05) boasts a better rate. This is particularly impressive considering Ekitiké has been rotated in and out of the team while settling into a side that has been inconsistent for much of the campaign.

His £70 million transfer fee, potentially rising to £80 million with add-ons, seemed steep at the time—especially compared to the initial fanfare surrounding Isak’s £125 million arrival. But the former Eintracht Frankfurt striker was almost an afterthought in the summer discourse, and perhaps that reduced pressure has allowed him to flourish.

Liverpool’s Stark Performance Split

The most damning evidence for Ekitiké being Liverpool’s indispensable striker comes from examining the team’s performance with and without him in the starting XI. The contrast is dramatic and provides Slot with clear data for his selection dilemmas.

Liverpool have won seven of the 10 league games Ekitiké has started (D1 L2), but just one of the six he hasn’t (D1 L4). Even more tellingly, they average exactly two goals per game when he starts compared to just one per game in his absence. This isn’t merely correlation—the Frenchman’s influence is tangible and transformative.

More Than Just Goals: Complete Striker Package

While his goalscoring grabs headlines, Hugo Ekitiké offers far more than just clinical finishing. His game is built on movement, ball-carrying, and involvement—qualities that make him exceptionally difficult to defend against in the Premier League.

Last season at Eintracht Frankfurt, only three players from Europe’s top five leagues recorded more shot-ending carries than Ekitiké. This season, just three Premier League players have more than his 1.14 shot-ending carries per 90 minutes (minimum 500 minutes). His ability to drive at defenders, commit multiple opponents, and create shooting opportunities through progressive dribbling makes him a constant threat.

Despite nominally playing as a central striker, Ekitiké drifts wide to receive possession, getting involved across the opposition’s entire half. His heat map reveals a player comfortable operating in all attacking zones, offering tactical flexibility that Isak has yet to demonstrate consistently at Anfield.

His performance against Brighton & Hove Albion perfectly encapsulated this complete game. Beyond his match-winning brace, Ekitiké completed three of four dribbles—only Curtis Jones (four of five) completed more for Liverpool. One particular moment saw him storm past Carlos Baleba before pulling the ball back to the edge of the box, eventually setting up Wirtz for a chance that led to Ekitiké’s subsequent volley that narrowly missed. Another second-half dribble saw him beat three defenders while cutting inside from the left before dragging his shot wide.

Elite Involvement and Tactical Intelligence

Ekitiké’s involvement metrics further distinguish him from typical strikers. He averages 37.6 touches per 90 minutes in the Premier League—among forwards who predominantly play centrally, only Chelsea’s João Pedro (45.6) averages more this season in England’s top flight (minimum 500 minutes). Notably, Pedro has often operated as a number 10 in recent weeks, making Ekitiké’s involvement even more impressive for a traditional striker.

His 49 touches against Brighton represented his highest tally of the season, at least 11 more than in any other game. The next highest came in the previous match at Leeds, suggesting a player increasingly comfortable and integrated into Slot’s system. This progressive trend bodes well for Liverpool’s second half of the season.

The Frenchman attempted seven shots against Brighton, the most by any Liverpool player in a single game this season. No Reds player has attempted more shots in a match since Cody Gakpo recorded eight against West Ham in April 2024. This aggressive mentality, combined with intelligent positioning, makes Ekitiké a nightmare for opposition defenses.

The Brighton Masterclass

Ekitiké’s two-goal performance in Liverpool’s 2-0 victory over Brighton showcased both his predatory instincts and technical brilliance. The opening goal arrived after just 46 seconds—at the time, the fastest goal of the Premier League season before Mateus Fernandes scored after 30 seconds against Aston Villa the following day.

It was Liverpool’s first goal in the opening minute of a Premier League match since Naby Keïta netted their fastest ever goal in the competition after 15 seconds against Huddersfield in April 2019. The execution demonstrated supreme awareness and confidence. Having been wide moments earlier offering a passing option to Jones, Ekitiké made himself available for Joe Gomez to nod the ball into the danger area after Yankuba Minteh smashed a clearance skyward. He controlled with the outside of his boot and volleyed into the roof of the net in one fluid motion—hitting a rising ball that accurately required elite technique.

His second goal was more straightforward but equally important. Finding himself unmarked from a corner just before the hour mark, Ekitiké headed home Mohamed Salah’s delivery for his first headed goal in Liverpool colors. Significantly, it was Liverpool’s first goal from a corner in the Premier League this season, making them the last team to finally score from one. Salah’s assist was his 277th Premier League goal involvement for Liverpool, breaking Wayne Rooney’s record for most goal contributions for a single club in the competition.

The Expected Goals Narrative

Ekitiké arrived at Liverpool with questions about his finishing after scoring 14 Bundesliga goals from 19.2 expected goals in 2024-25—the worst xG underperformance across Europe’s top five leagues. However, this single-season sample size never told the complete story.

In the Premier League this season, he has completely flipped that narrative. Ekitiké has scored seven goals from just 4.24 xG—an overperformance of 2.76 goals. Only Morgan Rogers (3.32) and Phil Foden (3.04) have outperformed their xG by more in the division. This dramatic reversal validates the principle that one season of xG underperformance doesn’t definitively indicate poor finishing, particularly for young players adapting to new leagues and systems.

What hasn’t changed is Ekitiké’s exceptional ability to generate high-quality chances. Last season, he recorded the third-highest xG total from non-penalty shots across Europe’s top five leagues (19.2). This season, only five Premier League players have a higher non-penalty xG per 90 (minimum 500 minutes) than his 0.44. This consistency in chance creation combined with improved finishing is the formula for elite strikers.

The Isak Comparison: A Tale of Two Arrivals

The contrast between Ekitiké and Alexander Isak’s Liverpool debuts extends beyond mere statistics—their circumstances differed dramatically. Ekitiké arrived with Frankfurt’s blessing after straightforward negotiations, participated in a substantial portion of pre-season including the Hong Kong tour, and integrated seamlessly into training. Isak, conversely, endured a toxic exit from Newcastle, missed virtually all of pre-season, and didn’t train with his new teammates until after September’s first international break.

These contextual differences matter, and Isak will presumably settle and rediscover the goalscoring form that made him one of the Premier League’s most feared strikers in the northeast. However, right now, in December 2025, Ekitiké has definitively established himself as Liverpool’s first-choice striker through merit and performance.

After sustaining a slight knock in the Champions League win at Inter, Isak was relegated to the bench for the Brighton match. Ekitiké’s performance justified Slot’s selection, demonstrating why he currently deserves to lead the line alone.

Slot’s Endorsement and Future Potential

Liverpool manager Arne Slot has publicly acknowledged Ekitiké’s progression and adaptation to the Premier League’s unique demands. Following the Brighton victory, Slot offered insight into the striker’s development: “What I see with [Ekitiké], and I see this with all the players we’ve brought in this summer, they had to adapt to the Premier League, to that intensity, because they were all young. All the players we brought in are young players, except for [Isak], but all the others are very young.”

Slot continued: “So, adapting to the Premier League, that intensity, some of them had to adapt to [playing in both] the Premier League and Champions League. I see all of them making progress in that. So, Hugo has cramp today but I can assure you that he did probably twice as much as in games in the beginning of the season where I had to take him off with cramp as well.“

The manager’s comments reveal a player whose physical capacity and stamina have doubled since the season’s start—an ominous sign for Premier League defenders if there’s even more in the tank. Slot concluded: “That is what this league brings. If you cannot be so intense for such a long time, it’s so hard to win a game of football because the best players, athletes, in the world play in this league, and we are trying to prepare them more and more, better and better for that – and I can see that progress with most of our signings, maybe all of them.”

The Catalyst for Liverpool’s Revival

Ekitiké’s influence extended beyond the pitch during Liverpool’s recent slump. He came off the bench to score the League Cup third-round winner against Southampton, but removing his shirt during the celebration earned a needless red card, suspending him for the subsequent 2-1 defeat at Crystal Palace.

That loss triggered Liverpool’s form collapse—they went from five points clear at the top to the bottom half of the table in weeks, losing six of seven Premier League matches from the Palace game onward while also exiting the League Cup to the Eagles. The timing wasn’t coincidental.

With back-to-back victories over Inter and Brighton in the past week, Liverpool are showing signs of recovery. Having Ekitiké in this rich vein of form should accelerate that revival. Imagine what the 23-year-old will achieve when Liverpool collectively perform to the levels many expected in the summer.

Looking Ahead

Hugo Ekitiké’s first months at Liverpool have exceeded all reasonable expectations. His 10 goals are at least twice as many as any teammate, his influence when starting is statistically transformative, and his all-around game continues to develop at an impressive rate. At 23 years old with obvious room for physical and tactical growth, the ceiling feels extraordinarily high.

The question posed in the title has been answered emphatically by performance data: yes, Hugo Ekitiké should be Liverpool’s main striker ahead of Alexander Isak right now. Whether that remains true by season’s end depends on Isak’s adaptation, but for the present moment, the Frenchman has earned the right to lead the line through consistently excellent performances.

Liverpool invested £70-80 million in a striker many viewed as a project signing. Instead, they discovered a ready-made solution to their goalscoring needs—a dynamic, involved, intelligent forward who has thrived under pressure and delivered when his team needed him most. That’s the definition of value in the modern transfer market.

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