‘He needs to…’ – Hugo Ekitike aims cheeky dig at Florian Wirtz amid growing Liverpool chemistry | OneFootball

Hugo Ekitike has jokingly told Florian Wirtz that the German playmaker ‘needs to give back’ some assists to him, with the duo forming an increasingly effective chemistry for Liverpool.

The French centre-forward set up the 22-year-old to score the Reds’ second goal in the 6-0 win over Qarabag on Wednesday night with a delightful turn and pass, and he’s supplied the assist for three of the five goals that our number 7 has scored since Christmas.

Ekitike aims cheeky pop at Wirtz

Ekitike stopped to speak with reports in the mixed zone at Anfield after the resounding victory over the champions of Azerbaijan, and he aimed a cheeky message at his teammate to repay the favour in the other direction after a productive few weeks.

The 23-year-old joked (via Empire of the Kop): “I’ve given him a lot of assists; he needs to give some back now!”

The France international went on to say about Wirtz: “We can help the team and score. He’s a great player. He smells football. I love to play with that kind of player and hopefully we can continue to do that in each game, keep scoring and give assists to each other.”

(Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images)

Wirtz and Ekitike are working wonderfully well in tandem

The manner in which Ekitike teed up the German to score against Qarabag was indicative of the growing on-field chemistry between the two summer signings, who between them have contributed 18 goals and 11 assists for Liverpool thus far in their maiden campaign at Anfield.

Wirtz might have something to say in private about the striker’s remarks, with the stats showing that in terms of G/A combinations with each other, they’re actually quite closely matched!

Four of those five goals have come over the past month, which indicates that the duo are forming an increasingly intuitive understanding with one another on the pitch, and that can only be good news for the Reds at a time when the team’s results have been so underwhelming.

While Ekitike hit the ground running for Liverpool, Wirtz had to be a lot more patient for his first goal in a red shirt and endured some harsh media criticism prior to his ongoing burst of form.

He’s been very much making up for lost time since Christmas, though, and so long as the dynamic duo can remain fit, Kopites can expect to see them combining for a few more goals before the season is out, with the stats suggesting that the favours will be exchanged to a broadly equal degree!

You can watch Slot’s full post-Qarabag press conference below, via Empire of the Kop on YouTube: