Alexander Isak is \u2018unlikely to feature from the start\u2019 before the Merseyside derby with Everton after being dealt a blow on international duty with Sweden.<\/p>\n
Isak completed his British-record move to Liverpool from Newcastle on deadline day but is lacking match sharpness having refused to play for the Magpies to force through that transfer, while training alone.<\/p>\n
The 25-year-old was called up for Sweden\u2019s World Cup qualifiers but manager\u00a0Jon Dahl Tomasson insisted it was too much of a \u201crisk\u201d to play him in their 2-2 draw with Slovenia on Friday.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cWe would love to play him, everyone would. But after three training sessions with the group, and no proper training all summer, the risk is a little too great.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe could be a game changer against Kosovo, I believe. But we have to do the right things with him. In the long and short term.\u201d<\/p>\n
READ MORE:\u00a0Newcastle \u2018mugged Liverpool blind\u2019 and Alexander Isak \u2018needs to fire his agent\u2019<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n He was again left out of the starting lineup for their clash with Kosovo on Monday, with Arsenal\u2019s Viktor Gyokeres and Newcastle\u2019s Antony Elanga preferred in attack, and now FourFourTwo claim<\/a><\/strong> Liverpool fans may have to wait until the visit of Everton before they see Isak starting for them.<\/p>\n The report states he\u2019s \u2018unlikely to feature from the start\u2019 against Burnley on Sunday or Atletico Madrid in their Champions League opener on Wednesday \u2018after his minutes were limited during the international break\u2019 \u2013 it was \u2018anticipated he would start the second qualifier\u2019.<\/p>\n Isak\u2019s lack of fitness looks set to hand fellow summer signing Hugo Ekitike further opportunity to impress as Arne Slot\u2019s No.9 after three goals and an assist in his first four Reds appearances following his \u00a369m move from Eintracht Frankfurt.<\/p>\n MORE LIVERPOOL COVERAGE ON F365\u2026 Responding to Isak\u2019s arrival, Ekitike vowed to give Slot a selection \u201cproblem\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s fun. When you play for the best teams, you expect to be competing with the best players,\u201d Ekitike said when asked about Isak\u2019s move to Anfield.<\/p>\n \u201cIsak is a player I\u2019ve watched too, so seeing him arrive is a pleasure. It\u2019s going to be tough competition, but I\u2019m going to focus on performing well so that it\u2019s a problem for the manager.\u201d<\/p>\n He added: \u201cObviously my life has changed. It\u2019s a big move and I\u2019m watched a thousand times more, but I\u2019m taking it positively, it\u2019s really good. It\u2019s the position I wanted to be in.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you have this kind of standard, you have to show that you belong here and you have to continue to perform. But it\u2019s a position that I like and that I want to keep.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Alexander Isak is \u2018unlikely to feature from the start\u2019 before the Merseyside derby with Everton after being dealt…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":408661,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8815],"tags":[9261,748,393,163,4884,179,12,16,2970,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-408660","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-liverpool","8":"tag-alexander-isak","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-front-page","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-liverpool","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-uncategorized","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115170627002667814","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408660","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=408660"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408660\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/408661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=408660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=408660"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=408660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\ud83d\udc49\u00a0Liverpool: Romano reveals Konate contract update amid \u2018no agreement\u2019; \u2018pragmatic\u2019 approach revealed<\/a>
\ud83d\udc49\u00a0Liverpool: Hugo Ekitike reveals \u2018problem\u2019 verdict in clear response to record Alexander Isak signing<\/a>
\ud83d\udc49\u00a0Liverpool or Arsenal? Kylian Mbappe drops verdict on PL title race as \u2018crucial factor\u2019 raised<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n