EKITIKE IS READY TO PUSH ON V SPURS WITH SALAH AT AFCON

WITH Mo Salah at Afcon, the scene is set for a new hero to emerge at Liverpool. 

And Frenchman Hugo Ekitike, 23, looks like he has lus to step up, scoring seven goals in 15 appearances for the Reds since his arrival from Eintracht Frankfurt in July.

Ekitike, who also played for French giants Paris Saint-Germain, says it’s at Anfield where his star is shining brightest. In an interview with the club’s website,

Ekitike said of his newfound fame: “My life changed completely since I signed here. I’m even more famous in my country. Also the level of the games. It’s just a different life.

“How people see me, I feel like a lot of people know me. I like the side that people recognise that you’re good at football, people like what you do on the pitch... ”

Ekitike seems to like the pressure of playing for the league champions and will enjoy the heat of travelling to Tottenham on Saturday.

With the Reds down in seventh place on the standings after eight wins from 16 matches and under-fire Thomas Frank’s Spurs even further down in 11th place with just six wins from 16, both teams will be feeling the heat at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium at 7.30pm.

Ekitike is min gespin, though, saying: “If you don’t have pressure, if people don’t care, that means you’re not at the right place. I’m at the right place.

“I know what people expect. I have my expectations too. I’m just working on being as good as people expect me to be and I know I’m in a place I was dreaming to be.

“I’ve been to so [many] places and you always have something to reach. I think that's what football is. I always think that football makes you tired physically but mentally, if you want to get to the top and do and achieve things, it's always about [going] again and again and again.

“Because if tomorrow I score a brace and I say, 'I'm really good', it stops. Obviously I want to be the best – that's why I'm playing. But I know I have so much work, so [many] things to improve. But, of course, I want to be the best.”