Liverpool manager Arne Slott has confirmed that Sweden international Alexander Isak will be out for “a few months” after breaking his leg during Saturday’s win over Tottenham. The Swedish striker broke his left leg and underwent surgery.
Isak came on as a substitute at half-time against Spurs and calmly scored to put his team ahead 11 minutes later. However, midway through, he suffered an injury after being challenged by Tottenham defender Micky van de Ven. And he was dragged off the pitch with the help of two members of Liverpool’s medical team, replaced by Jeremy Frimpong.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference ahead of Liverpool’s Premier League game against Wolves on Saturday, Slott was asked about Isak.
And the Dutchman explained: “It’s going to be a long injury for several months. It’s very, very, very unfortunate for him and for us.”
He added: “I’m confident he can play the role[at the end of the season]. It’s been a really challenging and difficult period for him.”
“You joined a new club – he was very excited – and you want to immediately show your qualities, but it was not possible at all.
“When you haven’t practiced at a serious level for a couple of months, in this league you have to be on top of your game to make an impact on the game of football.
“We knew it was going to take months. We knew he might need time. So it’s very unfortunate that he’s injured now, as we all saw with his goals against West Ham and against Tottenham, when you saw him getting closer to the player he was at Newcastle.”
Isak’s absence means Slott will have to rely heavily on Hugo Ekitike in the coming weeks, with the Frenchman scoring his 11th goal of the season for Spurs after moving to Anfield in the summer.
Slott then turned to Ekitike, explaining: “He still needs to get stronger, but he’s already getting stronger. He can score goals, has great footwork, dribbling skills. He’s got a lot of stuff in his locker.”
“He’s adapting to the Premier League now. The biggest thing is how to become a better player physically. That’s what he’s working hard on.”
“In the last two, three, four minutes, he was very, very, very tired at Tottenham, which you see a lot. But these players get very little rest. I have to give them a lot of credit. Every time they fought, from the first second to the last, they kept fighting.”
