Arne Slott spoke about Alexander Isaac (Image: (FRANCK FIFE / AFP via Getty Images))
Manager Arne Slott has revealed that Alexander Isak will not be in the starting XI for Liverpool’s match against Paris Saint-Germain, but could feature at the Parc des Princes. Isak was named in Liverpool’s squad for the first time since breaking his leg in December and traveled to France with the Reds.
The Sweden international returned to first-team training last week but was not included in Saturday’s FA Cup squad against Manchester City. However, the striker is now poised to make his first return since breaking a bone in his foot following a challenge from Micky van de Ven in his side’s win over Tottenham Hotspur just before Christmas.
“He’s finished almost a week of team practice, so he can play a role. Otherwise I wouldn’t take him,” Slott admitted in Tuesday night’s pregame press conference.
“I didn’t take him to the Etihad because I felt he couldn’t perform yet. We think we can get performance out of him now, but we’re not starting now.”
The Reds arrived in Paris under intense scrutiny following Saturday’s sluggish display at the Etihad Stadium. The game came just after another defeat at Brighton before the international break.
Following the weekend’s result, captain Virgil van Dijk candidly admitted that his side let the Tour down against City and apologized to the fans for his side’s performance.
Asked about the centre-back’s comments, Slott said: “Sometimes in a football game you want to do things a certain way and for various reasons you don’t want to do it.
“But one of them is you can definitely concede when you think you’re playing well and you’re in the game. Usually the most hurtful moments in football are just before and after half-time.
“Right after half-time we were down 3-0 and then for five minutes you could see we were too open and our players were struggling.
The Reds suffered a crushing defeat to Manchester City in their latest encounter. (Image: James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images)
“The good thing was that after 4-0 City seemed happy with it and they couldn’t create any more chances because we always had the ball.
“I didn’t see the players giving up, but it’s good for the captain to have a strong and solid reaction after a game like that. Hopefully we can show a strong and solid reaction as a team tomorrow evening, not just immediately after the game.”
Luis Enrique’s team are the overwhelming favorites to win with a tie, but Slot doesn’t care about the bookmakers’ opinions.
“I don’t think it matters whether there’s a favorite or not,” he said. “It’s only two games, but a lot can happen between those two games.
“Both teams have very good players and last season showed that both teams can go head-to-head.
“I think we deserved to lose 4-0 here last season, but it was thanks to Alisson that we didn’t lose 4-0 in that game. I think we deserved to win that game at Anfield.”
“The difference between these two teams is that PSG kept the group together. I think our team will be different from the team that was here last season.”
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