Arne Slot has explained what “special” Liverpool striker Hugo Ekitike “needs” to do to improve his game ahead of their clash with Man City on Sunday.

Ekitike joined Liverpool for ￡69m in the summer from Eintracht Frankfurt and has so far proven to be the only player in their ￡420m summer haul to have made anything approaching a positive start to life at Anfield.

He’s got six goals and an assist in 15 games for the Reds so far and has frequently displayed his neat footwork ?in tight spaces up top, as well as some decent finishing at times.

Signed in the same summer as Alexander Isak, who joined on deadline day from Newcastle for ￡125m after quite the transfer saga, it had been suggested that Ekitike might struggle for game time.

But a mixture of poor form, fitness and injuries has seen the 23-year-old play a major role so far, and he’s set to start in Liverpool’s crunch clash with Manchester City on Sunday as Isak has only just returned to training. He’s back in “pre-season” again, apparently.

And ahead of the game at the Etihad, Slot lauded Ekitike’s ‘good touch for a big man’ but also hinted at his relatively poor duel success rate.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference, the Dutchman said: “That is what makes him special, if you’re that tall and your footwork is as good as his.

“That’s what makes him special, if you’re so tall, he needs to be stronger in duels.”

According to Fotmob, Ekitike has won just 36.7 per cent of his duels and 37.9 per cent of his aerial duels in the Premier League this season.

MORE LIVERPOOL COVERAGE ON F365
?? Party’s over, Pep: Five tactical throwbacks we want to see follow long throws
???Should we believe report about latest Liverpool raid of Newcastle? Honestly…maybe
?? Alan Shearer reveals Man City vs Liverpool prediction with verdict on ‘desperate’ Arsenal

Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher is baffled by his former side signing both Ekitike and Isak this summer, claiming his “mind boggles”as to how Slot is going to keep both players happy going forward.

Carragher said on Sky Sports: “I could totally understand it’s not easy, and this was always my reservation about buying two strikers for that much money who both play in the same position.

“It’s very difficult to see a Liverpool team get two strikers on the pitch, it’s not easy to do that. So I understand trying to get Isak in the team even though Ekitike was doing well – because he’s a great player, he’s got to get him fit and he’s also paid a lot of money for him.

“My mind boggles going forward how this is going to work, but right now Ekitike’s got the shirt, he’s playing really well and it will probably do Isak a little bit of good if he’s out of the team to build his fitness up in training more.”