Preceding Fantasy Premier League’s (FPL) Double Gameweek 33 is the second leg of UEFA Champions League’s quarter-finals. On Tuesday, Liverpool’s elimination was worsened by a big Hugo Ekitike (£9.2m) injury.

MATCH FACTS

• Result: Liverpool 0-2 Paris Saint-Germain (aggregate 0-4)
• Starting XI: Mamardashvili; Frimpong (Gomez 46 (Ngumoha 67)), Konate, van Dijk, Kerkez; Mac Allister (Jones 74), Szoboszlai, Gravenberch, Wirtz; Isak (Gakpo 46), Ekitike (Salah 31)
• Changes from Gameweek 32: Five (Salah, Robertson, Ngumoha, Gakpo + Jones out; Ekitike, Isak, Kerkez, Mac Allister + Gravenberch in)

LONG-TERM EKITIKE INJURY

Aiming to overturn last week’s two-goal deficit, Arne Slot started both Ekitike and Alexander Isak (£10.3m) up front.

The Frenchman began out wide but, around the half-hour mark, went to ground off-the-ball, clutching his lower right leg. Players from both sides looked concerned as he was stretchered away.

“Not too good. I think we could all see that it didn’t look well and didn’t look good. Let’s wait and see what it will be. But we could all see it didn’t look good.” – Arne Slot’s post-match update on Hugo Ekitike

Ekitike will undergo scans, but multiple reports say he’s ruptured an Achilles tendon, meaning an estimated absence of nine months. If true, that likely ends his 2026 action, including dreams of featuring at the World Cup.

Gameweek 32’s most-ditched player was already on track to repeat this feat heading into Saturday’s deadline, either via free transfers or chip usage. But such an injury, of course, locks in many more sales.

LIVELY LIVERPOOL

As for the match itself, Liverpool gave it a real good go under the Anfield lights, before Ousmane Dembele’s 72nd-minute opener.

The Reds failed to get a shot on target in Paris but, on home turf, managed to rack up 21 attempts, five on target, two big chances and 1.69 expected goals (xG). They accumulated 50 touches inside the PSG box.

Above: The match’s graph of cumulative expected goals (xG), from Statsbomb

A close-range Virgil van Dijk (£6.3m) effort was brilliantly blocked by Marquinhos, whereas Matvey Safonov made a bunch of impressive saves from Milos Kerkez (£5.6m), Cody Gakpo (£7.3m) and Rio Ngumoha (£4.3m). The latter was a particular thorn in the European champions’ side.

“We are very disappointed because I think there were parts in the second half where you could just feel, ‘If we can score now, this is going to become a special night.’ But the future looks very bright for this team, because we’ve shown that we can compete with the champions of Europe in our stadium.

“Not many teams can be dominant against Paris Saint-Germain and generate so many chances as we did. But yeah, chances are one thing, scoring is a second.” – Arne Slot

Liverpool thought they were awarded a 64th-minute penalty when Alexis Mac Allister (£6.3m) was fouled by Willian Pacho. However, the referee changed his mind after consulting with VAR.

Ultimately, despite showing a bit of spirit, Slot’s lot were unable to score across all 180 minutes.

SALAH BENCHED AGAIN

It’s becoming the norm for Slot to sideline Mohamed Salah (£14.0m), though the Egyptian made an impact after replacing Ekitike.

In what turned out to be his final European appearance for Liverpool, Salah created four attempts, including a cross that set up the huge Kerkez and van Dijk double chance.

Now fighting on one front, with Champions League qualification not yet guaranteed, will the combination of Ekitike’s injury and Isak’s slow reintroduction make Salah worthy of FPL investment?

“To play him for 45 (minutes) and see at half-time how he feels to add five or 10 minutes to that, that was the possibility for today. But because we already had to make a substitution in the first half, I didn’t want to make the second substitution five or 10 minutes after half-time – that’s why I took him off at half-time.” – Arne Slot on Alexander Isak

It was pre-determined that £125 million Isak would come off at half-time, in his first start since December. One of the Swedish international’s five touches was a header straight at Safonov.

Also withdrawn at the break was Jeremie Frimpong (£5.7m), due to an underwhelming display.