Hugo Ekitike issues Liverpool statement as Alexander Isak handed major boost after Newcastle United transfer
Liverpool progressed to the last-16 of the Carabao Cup as Newcastle United prepares to get their defence underway.
Newcastle United start their Carabao Cup defence against League One Bradford City at St James’ Park tonight (7:45pm kick-off).
The match comes six months after The Magpies beat Liverpool in the 2025 Carabao Cup final at Wembley Stadium back in March.
A lot has changed since then, with Newcastle going on to qualify for the Champions League and Alexander Isak, who scored what turned out to be the winning goal in the final, joining Liverpool for a Premier League record £130million transfer fee.
By qualifying for Europe, Newcastle received a bye to the third round of this season’s Carabao Cup and new rules prevent them from being drawn against a fellow European side.
As a result, eight of the nine English European clubs have been drawn against lower-league opposition in the third round. Only Aston Villa were drawn against another Premier League side, losing on penalties to Brentford last week.
Liverpool, who have reached the final in each of the last two seasons, were drawn at home to Championship side Southampton in the third round. And an eventful match unfolded as a result.
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Alexander Isak opens Liverpool account before Hugo Ekitike blow
Southampton came close to opening the scoring at Anfield before Liverpool capitalised on a defensive mistake, which allowed Isak to stroke in his first goal for his new club.
Shea Charles equalised for Southampton with 14 minutes of normal time remaining but, true to form, Liverpool popped up with yet another late winner.
Summer signing Hugo Ekitike came off the bench to score an 85th-minute winner for The Reds to secure progress to the last-16 of the competition. But it wasn’t without incident as the French forward, who was already on a booking, was shown a second yellow for taking his shirt off and holding it up in front of the home fans.
A statement from Ekitike that could prove costly as it will see him banned for Liverpool’s trip to Crystal Palace on Saturday. It also opens the door for Isak to make his full Premier League debut for his new club.
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot also hit out at Ekitike following the match: "It is not [stupid] because it was his second [yellow] - it's stupid even if you haven't had a yellow card yet.
"Maybe I'm a bit old-fashioned but I did score a few goals - not at his level, but I did - and if I went past three players and put it in the top corner then maybe you can say: 'This is all about me.'
"But if I scored a goal like he did tonight, I would turn to Chiesa and say: 'It's about you Federico - great assist, great run and I didn't have to do a lot.' Maybe that's me being old-school.
"It was stupid, not smart in every sense. The good thing is that his team-mates helped him to get the win over the line, but the thing is he is now suspended for Saturday and that is far from ideal."
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Hugo Ekitike issues apology statement
Ekitike took to social media to issue an apology message following his red card.
“I was so excited tonight to help the team achieve another victory here in our home for my first Carabao Cup match,” he said. “The emotion got the better of me tonight. My apologies to all the Red family.