Hugo Ekitike's 'stupid' sending off was an embarrassing exhibition of ego - the suspended Liverpool star has gifted Alexander Isak his position for the foreseeable

We may never find out if Ekitike would have agreed to join Liverpool had he known that the Reds were also going to sign Isak. What we can say for sure, though, is that the French forward's response to the Swede's deadline day arrival at Anfield was incredibly impressive.

Having immediately endeared himself to the Kop with three goals in his first three competitive appearances for Liverpool, Ekitike scored the crucial second goal in the 2-1 win over Everton last Saturday afternoon.

By that stage, it was clear that the 23-year-old had no intention of playing second fiddle to the most expensive player in British football history - and had plenty of people once again asking if the Reds really needed to sign Isak.

Certainly, when Ekitike scored on his debut in the Community Shield clash with Crystal Palace at Wembley, his celebration suggested that he was wisely blocking out all of the transfer target surrounding Isak.

However, when he scored the winner against Southampton, his celebration pointed to a player trying unnecessarily hard to remind Reds of his quality.

Ekitike literally took his shirt off on Tuesday night to show everyone the name on the back - as if Anfield had suddenly forgotten who he was and how much of an impact he'd made in his short time on Merseyside.

It was a really embarrassing exhibition of ego and Slot was just as incensed by the lack of gratitude shown towards man of the match Federico Chiesa, who had left Ekitike with an open goal after a sublime first touch had allowed him to kill Andy Robertson's lofted pass stone dead before unselfishly laying on his second assist of the game.

"If you score in a Champions League final in the 87th minute after outplaying three players and hitting it in the top corner, I can maybe understand that you’re like, 'This is all about me, what did I do?'" Slot said.

"But I am old-fashioned, I’m 47 and old maybe. I haven't played at this level but I did score a few goals and if I would have scored a goal like this, I would have turned around and walked up to, in this situation, Federico Chiesa and said, 'This goal is all about you, this is not about me.'

"So, yeah, it was needless, not smart at all. I call it stupid as well."

Ekitike's stupidity didn't cost Liverpool on the night but, as stand-in skipper Andy Robertson said, "the last 10 minutes were made more difficult by being down to 10 men."

The Scot wasn't overly harsh on his new colleague - at least not publicly - but, just like Slot, he did point out that Ekitike's first yellow for throwing the ball away in frustration was almost as stupid as his second.

"There were two silly bookings to pick up," Robertson told Sky Sports, "and now we miss him for Saturday."

And Ekitike's suspension for the game against Crystal Palace is significant, as he was almost certain to start at Selhurst Park, given Slot and his coaching team are clearly not as convinced by Isak's readiness for 90 minutes of Premier League action as the man himself.

The striker was visibly stunned, in fact, when he was told that he would not be joining the rest of his team-mates in the dressing-room during the interval on Tuesday night and would instead remain on the field to do a warm-down because he was being replaced up front by Ekitike.

Isak took his half-time work-out in good spirits. "Yeah, that was a new one," he admitted during his post-match interview. "It was funny, it was a new experience. But I've got to get fit."

And Liverpool need him as sharp as possible for what is likely to prove one of their toughest away games of the season. People may scoff at such a claim but Palace are the only other undefeated team in this season's Premier League and have already shown in the Community Shield that they have absolutely no fear of Liverpool - which explains why Slot was so frustrated by Ekitike's senseless suspension.

Slot had enough to be worrying about as it was, with Giovanni Leoni's eye-catching debut having been brought to a premature and bitterly cruel ending just five minutes before the Reds were reduced to 10 men.

The 18-year-old summer signing from Parma fell awkwardly while winning the ball wide on the right touchline and Slot's worst fears were confirmed on Wednesday, when it was revealed that Leoni had injured his ACL.

There's every chance, then, that Leoni won't play again this season, which means Liverpool's lack of depth at centre-back will only come under even greater scrutiny ahead of the game against Palace.

The English champions had, of course, tried to sign Marc Guehi on deadline day but the deal collapsed at the 11th hour because of Palace's failure to sign a replacement of sufficient quality to satisfy an irate Oliver Glasner. Consequently, Liverpool will be facing rather than fielding Guehi this weekend and the difference between the two is enormous.

No Premier League side has conceded fewer goals (two) or kept more clean sheets (three) than Palace so far this season, so Slot really could have done with being able to call upon his team's top scorer, rather than relying on a player who didn't have a proper pre-season and hasn't played more than an hour of a competitive fixture for four months.

On the plus side, Isak opened his Liverpool account with a characteristically composed finish against Southampton and says that he feels fit enough to "make a difference" in each and every game he plays from now on. 

In addition, Federico Chiesa's best performance to date in a red shirt means that even if Isak doesn't last the 90 minutes against Palace (which is highly probable), Liverpool can bring on the reinvigorated Italian, who looks in better shape mentally and physically than he did at any point last season.

Of course, Ekitike's state of mind right now will be of even greater interest to Liverpool supporters.

They've already taken the France forward to their hearts and will be hoping that his stupid sending-off is something that he immediately learns from - in stark contrast to Darwin Nunez, whose ridiculous red card on his Anfield debut proven an ominous sign of things to come from the painfully unpredictable Uruguayan.

Credit to Ekitike, he wasted little time before issuing an apology for his actions.

"I was so excited tonight to help the team achieve another victory here in our home for my first Carabao Cup match," he wrote on social media. "The emotion got the better of me tonight. My apologies to all the Red family. Thanks to the fans who always support us and to my team-mates for securing this victory!"

One can be sure that Ekitike will be quickly forgiven by the fans for his moment of madness but it might take him a little longer to dispel the doubts over his temperament - because it really isn't normal for a striker to be celebrating open goals in the third round of the Carabao Cup like he's netted a late winner in the Champions League final.

Encouragingly for Ekitike, Slot labelled him "a fantastic human being" on Friday, and "in every staff member's top three" people at the club, while also pointing out that "we all make mistakes, and you are allowed to make a mistake at this club without immediately getting fined".

However, the worry is that the prospect of competing for game time with a British-record buy has negatively impacted Ekitike's mindset - which shouldn't be the case at all of course.

Granted, Ekitike's nose might have been put out of join by the arrival of Isak, who certainly wasn't brought in to share a role with anyone, and it wouldn't be at all surprising to see the Swede get an extended run of starts if, on Saturday, he nets for the second successive game.

Looking at Liverpool's forwards, though, Cody Gakpo is arguably the only one that should really be worried about losing his place after some seriously underwhelming displays - particularly as Ekitike is, as Slot recently pointed out, is capable of playing on the left-hand side of the same attack as Isak. It also wouldn't be a surprise to see Ekitike recalled for next week's Champions League trip to Galatasaray, as Liverpool look to continue managing Isak's minutes. 

Nonetheless, before Ekitike unwisely removed his shirt against Southampton, he was utterly undroppable. Now, though, he's handed his spot in Slot's first-choice starting line-up to Isak - and he could well struggle to get it back.