Virgil van Dijk suggests Liverpool signing was absolutely on fire vs Everton

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Virgil van Dijk was blown away by the performance of one Liverpool superstar after their 2-1 victory against Everton at Anfield.

The champions made it five wins from five in the Premier League after beating their neighbours on Saturday afternoon, with Ryan Gravenberch and Hugo Ekitike on target.

Gravenberch latched onto Mohamed Salah’s neat ball into the penalty area to open the scoring, before the midfielder turned provider, releasing Ekitike to rifle through Jordan Pickford.

It was another impressive performance from Arne Slot’s side, who held their nerve after Idrissa Gueye halved the deficit and threatened to set up a grandstand finish.

However, Van Dijk believes a big-money summer signing deserved particular praise.

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Virgil van Dijk praises Hugo Ekitike after Liverpool goal

Ekitike has caught the eye since arriving at Liverpool from Eintracht Frankfurt in a £69million deal.

He is competing with £125m arrival Alexander Isak for the No 9 berth, but has more than pressed home his claim to be the starting striker after scoring three goals in his first five competitive outings for the Reds.

His strike against Everton was clinically taken, and Virgil van Dijk has suggested he was on fire.

Ekitike shared a photo of his goal celebration on Instagram alongside the caption “The derby is ours!”, and Van Dijk left a glowing comment, replying with a simple flames emoji.

It is no surprise, then, that Stephen Warnock believes Ekitike is “getting better and better”.

That’s a truly frightening prospect for Liverpool’s title rivals.

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Hugo Ekitike’s impressive display against Everton

Ekitike was rightly given a standing ovation by Liverpool supporters after being replaced by Isak on 67 minutes, having worked tirelessly to stretch Everton and scored the second goal.

In doing so, he gave Arne Slot a welcome headache over which of the strikers he starts, and Ekitike himself has admitted he is relishing the opportunity to compete with, and work alongside, Isak.

“He’s a very, very good player,” Ekitike said of Isak on TNT Sports.

“I always watched him before I came here. So for me, him being here is really good.

“I can learn and improve myself. It’s competition, but I know we’re going to play together, we’re going to make a difference. I hope one day we’re going to share the pitch.

“It’s good. It’s the coach’s problem, I just do my job. It’s good.”