Ekitike was a notable omission from Liverpool’s team sheet as the Reds drew 2-2 at Craven Cottage on Sunday.
A final equalizer from Harrison Reed earned Fulham a point and condemned Liverpool to a second draw in a row. The champion is now fourteen points behind leader Arsenal.
Liverpool’s official statement was that Ekitike had a hamstring problem and the club were unwilling to risk the French forward in west London. Slot’s team will next take on Arsenal in a major Premier League match on Monday evening.
Discussing his side’s draw in the absence of Fulham and Ekitike, Slot told Sky Sports: “In an away game, maybe scoring two goals should be enough to win the game. It’s not the first time this season that we fight so hard and think we have a win, but then concede an incredible goal. We brought in Joe Gomez but they came up short. We missed a good result.”
“We had our chances in the first half. We had a similar one with Cody Gakpo from which they scored. In an ideal world we see a Liverpool team that is dominant but creates more chances. We scored two goals, scored two disallowed goals and hit the crossbar. Again it was not enough.”
“The players are giving everything they have. I have to keep them available. Alexander Isak is out and I have to overload or use Hugo more, a player who has never played in the Premier League. You have to manage that. We still have eleven very good players on the field.”
“It’s not just us, but many teams don’t create chances every game. It’s not perfect, but at least we created a few more chances today than last week.”
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