The sight of Mohamed Salah raising his hands to supporters after a fruitless cameo in an otherwise triumphant 5-1 win seemed to sum up his lack of influence in a new-look side.

Liverpool supporters are unlikely to have been too bothered by Hugo Ekitike‘s decision not to celebrate his goal against Eintracht Frankfurt.

After all, if the Frenchman’s early weeks at Anfield are anything to go by – six goals in 12 appearances – there will be more opportunities for the 23-year-old to revel in the acclaim of firing the ball in the back of the net.

Yes, it’s still early days. But make no mistake, Ekitike is becoming Liverpool’s main man. He is the here and now.

That notion was practically confirmed at the Deutsche Bank Park on Wednesday night, when he was chosen to start ahead of Salah as partner to Alexander Isak.

Just a few weeks ago, the idea of being selected for the Champions League tie against Frankfurt, sandwiched between Premier League games against Man United and Brentford, would have felt more like a supporting role than centre stage.

But after defeat to United condemned the Reds to a fourth consecutive loss for the first...