Liverpool crashed out of the Champions League against Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday, but that was not the worst news of the night. Completely innocuously, Hugo Ekitiké ended up on the ground and needed to be stretchered off inside the opening half an hour. It later transpired that the Frenchman has suffered a serious ruptured achilles tendon, so will be sidelined for at least nine month, potentially longer. Football though carries on, with big games still to play for Arne Slot's side this season, who now really needs Alexander Isak to rediscover his Newcastle form, and fast.
Ahead of Tuesday's clash with PSG, Slot confirmed that the Sweden international would play 45 minutes, giving serious pre-season vibes. Well, to the surprise of many, it was the first half, replaced by Cody Gakpo at the interval. During his time on the pitch, fair to say Isak made little impact.
Alexander Isak's statistics vs PSG
Statistics | Alexander Isak |
|---|---|
Minutes | 45 |
Touches | 5 |
Shots on target | 1 |
Offsides | 2 |
Attempted passes | 3 |
Completed passes | 2 |
Dribbles attempted | 1 |
Successful dribbles | 0 |
Possession lost | 2 |
Defensive contributions | 0 |
No, that is not a typo, Isak did only touch the ball five times during his 45 minutes of action. For comparison, Rio Ngumoha racked up 20 touches in half the time. The Swede did force Matvey Safonov into a save with a seventh-minute header, but contributed very little else, completing just two passes while also being flagged offside twice. With him in the team right now, the Reds are basically down to ten men.
Last summer, as he went on strike at Newcastle, Isak did not get any semblance of a pre-season before making the move to Liverpool for £125 million, a new British transfer record fee, on deadline day. He then suffered a broken leg in the act of scoring at Tottenham in December, so the fact that he has just two goals to his name is not entirely his fault, but is still a major disappointment.
Now though, with Ekitiké sidelined and Mohamed Salah departing, the Reds really need Isak to show something of his former self between now and the end of the season.
Liverpool's remaining fixtures
- Sunday 19 April. Everton - Bramley-Moore Dock. Kick off 2pm.
- Saturday 25 April. Crystal Palace - Anfield. Kick off 3pm.
- Sunday 3 May. Manchester United - Old Trafford. Kick off 3:30pm.
- Saturday 9 May. Chelsea - Anfield. Kick off 12:30pm.
- Friday 15 May (predicted). Aston Villa - Villa Park. Kick off TBC.
- Sunday 24 May. Brentford - Anfield. Kick off 4pm.
Slot's side may be fifth, therefore occupying the final Champions League spot, but they are far from certain to remain there. The Reds still have to face the teams third, fourth, sixth, seventh and eighth, so any sort of inconsistent form and they'll surely slip out of the top five.
Well, this key sequence of fixtures starts on Sunday with a first-ever Merseyside derby at Bramley-Moore Dock. Given that Everton are only five points below their city rivals, David Moyes team will be ultra-motivated as well as confident of picking up a famous win. Isak never netted either of the two times he visited Goodison, albeit did score against the Toffees at St James' Park in April 2024.
Well, frankly, the club-record signing does not look fit right now, but they need that to change and fast, or a derby day defeat could be incoming and Europa League football, or even worse, could be heading to Anfield come September.
Add us as a preferred source on Google