Another worrying Alexander Isak fitness concern arises

It’s fair to say Liverpool are waiting to see the best of Alexander Isak following his £125m move from Newcastle on deadline day.

The Swedish striker, 26, sat out the first three matches of the Geordies’ Premier League campaign - having earlier missed his club’s preseason tour.

By the time he landed on Merseyside, the No9 was woefully short of match fitness - requiring a mini-preseason to get himself up to speed.

Arne Slot and Liverpool staff assumed they’d see the best of Isak around the time of the October international break. But disaster struck for the striking star in the Champions League when he suffered an upper leg injury against Eintracht Frankfurt last month.

Isak called up for Sweden

Isak hasn’t been on the pitch since - but could play some minutes this weekend when Liverpool take on Manchester City.

Despite his lack of match practice, Isak has been named in the Sweden squad by new manager Graham Potter this week.

Floundering Sweden will play against Switzerland and Slovenia during the upcoming international window in FIFA World Cup qualification.

Isak has already been on two international camps since signing for Liverpool and neither have gone well. Potter will be hoping for a better output than previous incumbent Jon-Dahl Tomasson got from Isak.

But crucially the Englishman admits that Isak won’t be fit enough to play two matches in a week for the national team.

Isak "not ready for 2 x 90 mins

"Alex can hopefully play a bit this weekend and will be in Spain on Monday,” Potter said at his press conference.

“He is not ready to play two matches for 90 minutes but he is available.”

That may well be a worry for Arne Slot and Liverpool. The rigours of playing for the world’s top clubs include - quite often - three matches in an eight-day period.

Right now Isak is not up to it as he counts the cost of injury - meaning £69m signing Hugo Ekitike could be set for an increasingly prominent role.

Isak started for Liverpool in the Premier League against Manchester United on October 19 before breaking down on Oct 22 against Frankfurt.

He has missed the last four matches - and did not train with the team ahead of the midweek Champions League win against Real Madrid.

So far Isak has scored one goal in eight matches for the Reds and everyone at the club will be hoping to see the best of him soon. In an ideal world Isak would sit out this international window in order to best serve his recovery but there’s no way back now.

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