Arne Slot provided a fitness update on Alexander Isaac following the striker’s Liverpool debut against Atletico Madrid mid-week. Swedish International signed the Reds on a transfer deadline in a record £125 million deal. After effectively beating a tool that went down effectively at Newcastle United over the summer, Isaac made his first start since last season’s final day, completing 58 minutes against the Spanish side on Liverpool’s impressive first outing.
After the Atletico conflict, Slot admitted that the 25-year-old certainly admitted that he would not complete 90 minutes against Everton. And although he refused to reveal whether he would maintain his place in the starting lineup against Toffee on Saturday, the Liverpool boss confirmed that Isaac has experienced discomfort after his debut, and still needs careful management.
“I don’t think the day before the game, how to start a game would tell the media a lot,” Slot replied at a pre-match press conference.
“I recovered yesterday. I’ll train this afternoon, so first of all, I have to see how they feel. All I know is that Alex felt his body more than ever after 60 minutes he played.
“Let’s see how he recovered today. Then we mainly think about today’s lineup and we’ll hear it tomorrow.”
Hugo Ekitike is expected to lead Liverpool’s attack on Everton if ISAK rests. Slot expressed his joy at his abundant offensive choices as he revealed that he was perfectly fit and had a team to choose from among the available teams.
“I think (if Ekitike can play in advance on ISAK) because of course you have a lot of thought,” he said. “It always depends on how well they do.
“If both of them are in the best form of their lives, you’re even thinking about playing them together more, but it’s clear that there’s a particular structure that’s mainly 4-3-3 and plays with three midfielders.
“But in the final stages of the game, I played two nines, and that too, so much happened.
“Hugo can actually play from the left, unlike when Cody (Gakpo) or Rio (Gumoha) does this. This is a good thing for our team. There are multiple options.
“First of all, they all have to remain fit for me to have these options, and if some of them don’t fit, we may need to use both of them on a 4-4-2.”
“I think maybe they’re all fit right now, so I think we have 21 players to choose from. That’s very normal, right?
Slot also confirmed that Curtis Jones is back in competition for Liverpool’s feature after sitting in the previous two matches through injuries.
“He’s back in the frame,” confirmed the Dutch. “As a team, I’ll say.”
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