Arne Slot has said he may start Alexander Isak ahead of fitter Liverpool strikers to give the £125 million (€142 million) signing the game time needed to recapture his Newcastle form.
Isak could make his first Liverpool appearance in a month at home to Nottingham Forest on Saturday, having recovered from the groin injury sustained at Eintracht Frankfurt on October 22nd. Slot had hoped the 26-year-old’s match fitness would improve during the international break, but he played only 28 minutes of Sweden’s defeat by Switzerland before sitting out their game against Slovenia to avoid the risk of being suspended for next year’s World Cup playoff.
Slot has several fitness issues and expects to be without right backs Conor Bradley and Jeremie Frimpong for several weeks. Florian Wirtz will also be absent against Forest, having sustained a muscle problem with Germany.
Getting Isak up to speed after an underwhelming start to his Liverpool career remains a priority. And Slot admits he may have no alternative but to select the club-record signing over fitter options such as Hugo Ekitiké.
RM Block
“This team can and will play much better if you give them a little bit more time,” the head coach said. “We can improve as a team and we will improve definitely as individuals because players will be adapted to the league much better. Alex will end up being the player he was at Newcastle if we get him fit. That will take a little bit of time.”
Slot added: “This morning I had a conversation with the performance staff about what is the best way for Alex – not for Liverpool – to get him as fast as we can to 100 per cent. I always have to find the balance between what is the best for him as an individual and for us as a team.
“I do know that a 100 per cent fit Alexander Isak is a big, big, big plus for this team. But for him to get there, he might need to have minutes where you could argue that another player might be further ahead of him in terms of match fitness.”
Bradley is facing at least three weeks out after being injured in Northern Ireland’s win over Luxembourg on Monday. Liverpool play seven games in 22 days from Saturday and are likely to be stretched at right-back throughout that period.
“I don’t expect Conor to be part of the next 22 days, maybe at the end of the 22 days if a miracle happens,” Slot said. “Florian shouldn’t be that long. Jeremie is probably not going to be available for the upcoming two or three weeks as well. It’s going to be interesting who you see as a right full-back.
“Curtis Jones played there last season. Joe Gomez has played there as well, but Joe has played, I think I’m correct, 90 minutes twice throughout the whole of this year. If we want to keep him available longer it is maybe a risk to play him seven times in 22 days. The good thing is we have enough good players available and maybe one or two of them will have to play in positions they usually don’t.”
