Hugo Ekitike had to come off injured for Liverpool against Brighton & Hove Albion after appearing to sustain a dead leg. The striker lasted just nine minutes before being replaced by Curtis Jones, with Arne Slot forced to reshuffle his line-up.

Ekitike appeared to injure his leg in a challenge with long-time Liverpool player James Milner and after trying to carry on, he ultimately could not continue. It remains to be seen whether the striker will now join up with France next week after being called up for their friendlies against Brazil and Colombia.

Liverpool already started the match without Mohamed Salah, who came off soon after scoring against Galatasaray on Wednesday, and goalkeeper Alisson. Ekitike was also on target against the Turkish team, scoring the second to put them ahead on aggregate after being set up by Salah.

The Reds are also still without Alexander Isak so Cody Gakpo, who returned to the team in place of Salah, moved up front after Ekitike was substituted. Federico Chiesa and Rio Ngumoha were also options off the bench, but Slot instead brought Jones back into the team.

Five minutes later, Danny Welbeck opened the scoring with a header after being assisted by Diego Gomez. Milos Kerkez equalised for the visitors just after the half-hour mark when capitalising on a short header from Lewis Dunk back to Bart Verbruggen.

Slot will provide an update on Ekitike after the match. Speaking about Salah in his pre-match press conference on Friday, he said: “It is unusual [that Salah is injured], I think you expect the outcome, so he is not available for tomorrow.

“The good thing for us is we go to international break, bad news for Egypt, he can’t go there. We hope that with what Mo has shown in the past, he can recover faster than other players. He takes such good care of his body that he can be back earlier than others, as history has shown. Only two weeks until we go again.”

That next match is against Manchester City in the FA Cup quarter-finals, four days before the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie against Paris Saint-Germain. They return to Premier League action away to Fulham three days on, before welcoming PSG to Anfield for the second leg.

Liverpool then play Everton in the Merseyside derby and host Crystal Palace in April. The month could also feature Champions League and FA Cup semi-finals.