Liverpool set to punish Hugo Ekitike over ‘stupid’ red card in Carabao Cup win

Hugo Ekitike celebrated a tap-in by taking his shirt off against Southampton (Picture: Getty)

Liverpool are set to punish Hugo Ekitike over the ‘stupid’ red card he received in the Carabao Cup win over Southampton, according to reports.

Ekitike was sent off after being shown two yellow cards, picking up the first one just eight minutes after he replaced Alexander Isak at half-time.

The 23-year-old striker was initially booked for punching the ball away as referee Thomas Bramall blew for a Southampton free-kick.

It was upgraded to a red when Ekitike took his shirt off while celebrating his 85th-minute winning goal – a tap-in from Federico Chiesa’s cross.

Ekitike is likely to be docked two weeks’ wages – totalling £400,000 – for his ‘needless’ red card in Liverpool’s 2-1 victory, the Daily Mail have reported.

The Frenchman, who joined Liverpool from Eintracht Frankfurt this summer in a £79m deal, is believed to earn £200,000-a-week.

He is the joint-fifth highest earner in the Liverpool squad, along with Florian Wirtz, with only four players making more money – Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk, Alexander Isak and Cody Gakpo.

Hugo Ekitike will miss Liverpool’s clash with Crystal Palace (Picture: Getty)

Ekitike has been in fine form since his summer arrival with five goals and an assist across his first eight games for Liverpool in all competitions.

But Ekitike’s red card means he must now serve a one-match suspension and will miss the Premier League clash with Crystal Palace on Saturday.

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot was left furious with Ekitike over his red card in the third-round Carabao Cup victory over Southampton at Anfield.

Hugo Ekitike joined Liverpool in the summer transfer window (Picture: Getty)

‘That was needless, yes,’ Slot said in his post-match press conference. ‘And it was stupid. Yeah, it was.

‘The first [booking] was already needless and to a certain extent stupid, because you have to control your emotions.

‘I know how hard it is if you play Premier League or every league in the world, if you are a No.9 then the defender can almost do everything he wants, and then when you shirt-pull a little bit or you push him a little bit then you get a free-kick against you.

‘But it’s always the best to control your emotions, and if you cannot control your emotions do it in a way that doesn’t lead to a yellow card.

‘I think I said when I got my red card against Everton [last season], that is always stupid because you can show your emotions but if it leads to a yellow or a red card then it’s stupid.

‘I told him as well and I said it already, if you score in a Champions League final in the 87th minute after outplaying three players and hitting it in the top corner, I can maybe understand that you’re like, ‘This is all about me, what did I do?’ – but I am old fashioned, I’m 47 and old maybe.

‘I haven’t played at this level but I did score a few goals and if I would have scored a goal like this, I would have turned around and walked up to, in this situation, Federico Chiesa and said, ‘This goal is all about you, this is not about me’.

‘So, yeah, needless, not smart. You call it stupid. I call it stupid, by the way, as well.’

Comments