When Liverpool finalized the bid to buy Alexander Isak for £130 million in the summer of 2025 on the last day of the transfer window, it was thought that Hugo Ekitike would become a backup factor. However, after half a season with many upheavals, now everything is the opposite.
Since officially playing for Liverpool, Hugo Ekitike (19) is only behind Erling Haaland of Man City (31) in terms of the number of goals he has scored in the Premier League. Mohamed Salah has been Liverpool's top scorer for 8 consecutive seasons, but that streak may stop after this season as Ekitike is playing excellently.
The victory over Newcastle last weekend was Hugo Ekitike's confirmation with a double. Before that match, Liverpool had a 4-match winless streak. 3 points against The Magpies helped The Kop gradually return to the race and helped Arne Slot's seat at Anfield become more solid.
After Anthony Gordon opened the score for Newcastle, the difficulty was felt very clearly. However, Ekitike relieved it very quickly with a double in just the last 2 minutes of the first half. Since the 5-1 victory over Tottenham in April 2025, this is the first time Liverpool has won in the Premier League when they were led.
At this time, Ekitike is being somewhat compared to Fernando Torres' image. Ekitike's second goal reminds of how Torres impressed fans at Anfield in his home debut against Chelsea in August 2007.
In that match, Torres received a pass from Steven Gerrard, accelerated past defender Tal Ben Haim and then turned to shoot into the far corner of the goal. Ekitike also accelerated on the left wing after being accurately passed by Milos Kerkez. He proved to be much faster and stronger than Malick Thiaw, then launched a powerful shot to defeat Nick Pope.
The recent victory against Newcastle is Liverpool's best warm-up at Anfield as they will host Man City this weekend. Whether Liverpool can stay in the Top 5 race this season or not, the answer will be clearest in the big match on Sunday if they overcome Man City.
One of the factors that helped Ekitike play so well in the past time is Florian Wirtz's excellence. The German midfielder is still a stable player for The Kop during the time the team lost continuously at the beginning of this year.
After Liverpool stabilized again, Wirtz is more sublimated and has a very good G/A stat. Since December 20, 2025, no player in the Premier League has had this stat higher than Wirtz when the German midfielder has had 9 G/As. Broadly, from the beginning of the season until now, the former Leverkusen star has had 14 G/As. In the victory against Newcastle last weekend, he had 1 goal and 1 assist.
The Wirtz - Ekitike duo is reminding Liverpool fans of the Gerrard - Torres image of the past. Since the beginning of the season, they have assisted each other a total of 6 times, 3 times each. No pair in the Premier League this season has done that. In the 1987-1988 season, the John Barnes and Ray Houghton duo also had 3 assists each for the other, similar to Ekitike and Wirtz today.
Sharing after the victory against Newcastle, both Ekitike and Wirtz said they are very happy. They cost Liverpool more than 200 million Euros and now is the time for both to reciprocate their trust in the most practical way.
In the final minutes of the victory over Newcastle, the stands of Anfield stadium shouted the slogan "Champion". This season, Liverpool has played below par in many matches, but the victory over Newcastle last weekend showed how high the level they can reach at.
