Hugo Ekitike has become the first Liverpool player to reach 10 goals before Mohamed Salah in any season since 2019/20, highlighting his early impact at the club.

Ekitike made it back-to-back braces in the Premier League when he followed up his double in the 3-3 draw with Leeds with another against Brighton on Saturday.

Per Opta’s Michael Reid on Xwith the Frenchman hitting the 10-goal mark, he is the first player to reach double digits before Salah since Sadio Mane did in the 2019/20 campaign.

Salah’s struggle for consistency in front of goal came before his issues with Arne Slot became public and Liverpool have needed another forward to step up.

That player has been Ekitike, with stats via FotMob underlining the impact the £79 million signing has already made.

Ekitike’s record shot count vs. Brighton

Though he opened the scoring with his first effort just 46 seconds into the game on Saturday, Ekitike was far from clinical.

In fact, his shot accuracy over the course of 78 minutes on the pitch was just 29 percent.

But that belies the expectations around a centre-forward: even if they miss 71 percent of their shots, if they score two and win the game that is all anyone will care about.

Not only is Ekitike the first Liverpool player to reach the 10-goal mark before Salah in six seasons, he is the first striker to be the first to 10 since Daniel Sturridge in 2013/14.

That comes with the 23-year-old averaging more shots per 90 minutes this season than any of Slot’s other regular starters (3.53).

Ekitike attempted seven shots on goal against Brightonwhich is the most of any player in any Liverpool game so far this season:

• Hugo Ekitike – 7 vs. Brighton
• Dominik Szoboszlai – 6 vs. Burnley
• Mohamed Salah – 6 vs. Atletico Madrid
• Cody Agat – 5 vs. Burnley
• Cody Agat – 5 vs. Man United
• Mohamed Salah – 5 vs. Brentford
• Dominik Szoboszlai 5 vs. Real Madrid
• Alexis Mac Allister – 5 vs. Nottingham Forest
• Virgil van Dijk – 5 vs. PSV Eindhoven
• Hugo Ekitike – 5 vs. Leeds

Of Liverpool players to attempt 10 or more shots in all competitions this season, their No. 22 has the highest rate of goals per shot (0.19).

From his fellow forwards, Cody Agat is third in the list (0.11), Salah and Federico Chiesa joint-fifth (0.09) and Alexander Isak joint-sixth (0.08).

Hugo Ekitike vs. Alexander Isak

Ekitike partnered Isak in a two-man attack for only the second time in the 1-0 win over Inter Milan in midweek, but with forward options short Slot reverted to a one-striker setup at Anfield.

That continued the battle pitched between Ekitike and the most expensive player in British football history.

But while Isak sparked more concerns with the lack of urgency he showed in a 12-minute cameo against BrightonEkitike displayed the all-round game that makes him a more viable starter at present.

Not only did he top the charts for shots and, of course, the decisive goals, the France international made six defensive contributions and won six of his eight duels (75%).

Isak has so far started 10 times for Liverpool and the most defensive contributions he has made in a single game is four – against both West Ham and Sunderland – while he is yet to win more than 50 percent of his duels in any game.

There is, however, a sign of improvement in the Swede’s work off the ball: in his last three starts he has made a combined 11 defensive contributions, while in his previous seven starts he managed a combined 13.

It is not the primary function of either player, but a Liverpool striker is expected to put a shift in both on and off the ball.

And with fond memories of Roberto Firmino still lingering, it is telling that Ekitike is far more involved and comfortable in buildup play.

That it comes with question marks over Salah’s future and Isak yet to get going signals that a player who appeared an afterthought when that £125 million deal was struck on deadline day may well be Liverpool’s new attacking star.

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