Having missed out on pre-season with Newcastle, Alexander Isak is only now working on his match fitness following his British transfer record £125M move to Liverpool. That meant he wasn’t ready for even a bench appearance against Burnley on Sunday.
Manager Arne Slot, though, has said Isak will be on the bench when the Reds welcome Atletico Madrid to Anfield for the first game of their Champions League 2025-26 league phase campaign on Wednesday, with the striker pencilled in for 45 minutes of action.
“When the player has been off for five weeks you have give them a base,” Slot noted. “We got him from Newcastle in a state where you could see his pre-season was going to start now, then he needs proper minutes of training before he can play twice in three days.
“We try to prepare players at the beginning of the season to play once a week then we do more for the rhythm of three games a week. Alex is far from ready for that. We could use him five minutes then 15, but we don’t believe that’s the way to build him up.
“In Sweden they did the right thing giving him good sessions without playing him a lot and we did the same so now he will be able to play 45 minutes Wednesday, maybe little bit more. But if he plays 45 on Wednesday, don’t expect him to play 45 on Saturday.”
Liverpool face Everton in the derby on Saturday, meaning their next two matches are both against potentially difficult and physical opposition. Next week, they take on Southampton in the League Cup on Tuesday which could be a chance for a first start.
Fortunately for Liverpool, with fellow new signing Hugo Ekitike making an instant impact for the Reds, it gives Slot some flexibility in how he works Isak into the lineup—something that will hopefully pay off for the team in the latter stages of the season.
