Refining Hugo Ekitike's Take-on Tactic Will Deliver Goals

Dribbles and carries aren't quite the same thing in data terms. Regardless, Hugo Ekitike didn't have many peers for either last season.

Hugo Ekitike finished fourth in the 2024/25 Bundesliga for carries into the opposition penalty area, with 52. He was one behind a Leverkusen attacking midfielder called Florian Wirtz.

Looking beyond Germany, Luis Díaz recorded 56 such carries for Liverpool. With 126, Mohamed Salah led Europe’s big five leagues. This is an important metric for Arne Slot’s Reds, past, present and future.

Ekitike provided evidence of his skills in the Community Shield, dribbling into space before unleashing a perfectly placed shot to open the scoring. Nobody has done so much in post-shot expected goal terms with such a low value chance to score for Liverpool since Alexis Mac Allister’s belter against Fulham in December 2023.

A better example of the Frenchman’s dribbling prowess occurred in the friendly victory over Athletic Club. Running onto the pass from Dominik Szoboszlai pictured below, the number 22 carried the ball to just shy of the byline. He then pulled it back centrally to assist Salah for the opener.

Carrying the ball well when space is available can be more productive than completing a dribble (in statistical terms) by going past an opponent with the ball. As was noted in an Opta Analyst article on Ekitike, “only three players across Europe’s top five leagues had more shots following ball carries in 2024-25 than he did.”

Liverpool’s new number 22 also created 17 chances following a ball carry of at least five metres last season. His combined rate for these shots and key passes topped what anyone in the Premier League with the same level of pitch time mustered.

Ekitike is truly elite at delivering output after carrying the ball, though Kopites have yet to see how well he can glide past an opponent in possession. He did not complete a dribble (also known as a ‘take-on’) against Athletic Club or at Wembley.

Fear not, he undoubtedly can, even if his standing is not quite as elite as it is for productive ball carries. Driblab recently highlighted that he led the big five leagues for proportion of dribbles used to create shots, albeit they did not specify if this meant dribbles in the Opta sense or ball carries (in the, um, Opta sense).

No matter. Shot creating action (SCA) statistics on FBRef can help us fill in the gaps a little. Once we’ve studied those, we can look at a few clips of Ekitike in full flight.

I’m giving away three passes with full newsletter access to mark the start of the new season. Enter on Bluesky, X or Substack for a chance to get lifetime access for free.