Alexander Isak opens up on fitness struggles since Liverpool move<\/p>\n
Alexander Isak has spoken openly about his fitness challenges since becoming Liverpool\u2019s record signing at the end of the summer transfer window.<\/p>\n
The Swedish forward had sought a move away from Newcastle by skipping the Magpies\u2019 pre-season preparations, eventually securing a transfer on deadline day. However, he arrived at Anfield lacking match sharpness.<\/p>\n
The 26-year-old has scored just once in his first eight appearances for the Reds and faced another setback when he was forced off with a groin injury during the 5-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt last month \u2014 his most recent outing for the club.<\/p>\n
Candid fitness update<\/p>\n
Isak came off the bench for the final 27 minutes in Sweden\u2019s 4-1 loss to Switzerland on Saturday. After the game, he admitted that he hasn\u2019t been at full fitness in recent weeks.<\/p>\n
Speaking to Sportbladet, the striker said: \u201cIt hasn\u2019t been optimal, but when I\u2019m on the field, I don\u2019t give myself any excuses. I always want to play my game and perform. It\u2019s hard to be away and not be able to contribute, but now I\u2019m back and feeling positive. There\u2019s nothing easy in football, but with experience you learn to deal with injuries and get back on track the right way.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added that his body felt \u201cgood\u201d after his substitute appearance and expressed hope to play fully against Slovenia on Tuesday, despite national coach Graham Potter giving mixed signals before the Switzerland match.<\/p>\n
Finding a way to get Isak regular minutes<\/p>\n
The \u00a3125m signing will want to repay Liverpool\u2019s investment quickly, but fitness issues have limited his involvement so far. It\u2019s clear from his performances that he isn\u2019t yet at the sharpness he showed at Newcastle last season.<\/p>\n
Reds fans may be divided on whether he should feature in Sweden\u2019s next match against Slovenia. While the fixture carries little at stake for either team, Isak needs game time after limited action over recent months.<\/p>\n
Liverpool coach Arne Slot faces a tricky decision: leave out the in-form Hugo Ekitike to give Isak minutes, try to accommodate both forwards in his usual formation, or adjust his system to field a two-striker setup.<\/p>\n
With Liverpool still having nine matches before the end of 2025, there should be opportunities for both strikers to get regular minutes \u2014 provided they stay injury-free. The former Newcastle star will be particularly eager to get back on the pitch and kickstart a season that has so far been frustrating.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Alexander Isak opens up on fitness struggles since Liverpool move Alexander Isak has spoken openly about his fitness challenges since becoming Liverpool\u2019s record signing at the end of the summer transfer window. The Swedish forward had sought a move away from Newcastle by skipping the Magpies\u2019 pre-season preparations, eventually securing a transfer on deadline day. …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":54632,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/alexander-isak-training-1200x672.jpg.webp","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=54631"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54631\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54633,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54631\/revisions\/54633"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/54632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=54631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=54631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=54631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}