FPL notes: Slot explains Ekitike benching + Richarlison threat

Hugo Ekitike (£9.2m) and Mohamed Salah (£14.0m) were both benched for Liverpool on Sunday, as a late Richarlison (£6.3m) strike earned Tottenham Hotspur a surprise point at Anfield.

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SLOT ON EKITIKE

Arne Slot made five alterations to his Liverpool line-up on Sunday, with Ekitike and Salah among those dropping to the bench.

The Dutchman, who clearly had one eye on Wednesday’s UEFA Champions League encounter with Galatasaray, explained his decision to start youngster Rio Ngumoha (£4.3m) and bench Ekitike prior to kick-off.

“Why now? Because he [Ngumoha] started training with us this season, and he’s improving, improving, improving. His game time has gone up, up, up, and then usually the next step is starting, and that’s today.

“First of all, because he did so well against Wolves, first of all because he’s developing well. Second of all, Hugo Ekitike trained for the first time with us yesterday, but missed out the day before.

“But mainly because Rio has shown that he’s ready for it now. He has to show it today, maybe, but if you look at what he did till now, I think the next step is starting, and that’s what he does today.” – Arne Slot

NGUMOHA PRAISE

With Ekitike and Salah benched, Ngumoha consequently started his first Premier League game on the left, with Florian Wirtz (£8.3m) the ‘10’ behind Cody Gakpo (£7.3m).

Ngumoha was easily Liverpool’s best attacker, while Gakpo hit the post in the first-half, but overall, attacks often fell apart at the crucial moment.

Still, for Ngumoha, this was a really promising display, with the 17-year-old firing off three shots.

“He enjoyed it as well and I enjoyed it also. He has developed very well throughout the season. He is 17 and now he has had his first Premier League start. He was a constant threat and that was definitely one of the positives to take from the game today.” – Arne Slot on Rio Ngumoha

As for Ekitike and Salah, they were sent on just after the hour mark and racked up a combined five shots, but the quality wasn’t always there.

SZOBOSZLAI HAUL

Instead, Dominik Szoboszlai (£7.0m) scored Liverpool’s only goal direct from yet another free-kick.

Deployed at right-back, with Jeremie Frimpong (£5.7m) in front of him, the Hungarian also stuck to his defensive tasks and racked up 14 defensive contributions (DefCon), hitting the DefCon threshold for the fourth time in six matches.

It resulted in a tidy 11-point haul for his 12.2% ownership.

But some sloppy defensive play cost Liverpool in the latter stages once more.

It’s now just two clean sheets in nine league matches for Arne Slot’s men.

“We have conceded far too many goals to pick up the amount of points that this club and I am used to. We have so much attacking quality but if you don’t score enough, you have to keep a clean sheet and we haven’t done that enough this season.” – Arne Slot

RICHARLISON THREAT

This was obviously Tottenham’s best display under Igor Tudor thus far.

Despite being without 13 players due to injuries and suspension, Richarlison led the line superbly, as Tudor surprised everyone by lining his troops up in a 4-4-2.

The Brazilian struck late on to earn Spurs a crucial point and racked up five shots in total, the most of any player on the pitch.

Above: Richarlison’s shot map (shots on target in green) v Liverpool

“In the first half I missed two chances but in the second half I had the opportunity again and I scored. I like to play against the big teams, I want to stay fit for my team and for my national team for the summer because they need me to be fit.” – Richarlison

Discussing his tactical set-up at Anfield, Tudor said:

“In attack we tried something different. In this moment it’s difficult to work on a structure in attack so we try to simplify it otherwise it can get more difficult. The style of football is what it is, and I think it’s a good start. The team spirit was amazing. This was the main demand. The quality is there. Every point is crucial, we are just going game by game. We hope today is a turning point.” – Igor Tudor

Defensively, Spurs impressed too, with centre-back partnership Radu Dragusin (£4.5m) and Kevin Danso (£4.2m), who was particularly solid throughout, both banking DefCon.

Tottenham remain the only team without a Premier League win so far in 2026, but they can take real encouragement from both the performance and result at Anfield.

Next up: a UEFA Champions League second leg tie against Atletico Madrid, before a real relegation six-pointer at home to Nottingham Forest in Gameweek 31.

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