Arne Slot looks on during a Liverpool training session
Liverpool have been dealt a blow after Alexander Isak missed training ahead of the Champions League clash against Real Madrid.
Isak has made just a handful of appearances for Liverpool after joining from Newcastle for a record £125million, possibly rising to £130million, on transfer Deadline Day.
The Sweden international felt discomfort in his groin against Eintracht Frankfurt on October 22 and was substituted at half-time. Subsequently, he has missed the last three games across all competitions.
Arne Slot stressed before the win against Aston Villa that Isak’s fitness issues are linked to not having a pre-season.
“Let me use Alex [Isak] as an example, he had to do his pre-season inside the season and people can then argue, 'Why do you play him?' But if I don't play him, I don't have him available and we need to have him available, because otherwise I have to play Hugo [Ekitike] every single game,” Slot said.
“And I was just with Owen Hargreaves when he made the comparison between the two of them and he showed that one played 34 games last season, the other one 34 – and we play 60 over here.
“So, that's why I need to get Alex as soon as I can into playing as many games as he can.”
The good news for Slot is that Curtis Jones was present for the training session on Monday afternoon. The midfielder missed the loss to Crystal Palace and the win over Villa with a knock sustained in the defeat to Brentford.
Liverpool return to Champions League action on Tuesday looking to build on their 5-1 thumping of Frankfurt last time out.
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The Reds beat Atletico Madrid in their opening game of this season’s League Phase, but slumped to a 1-0 loss away at Galatasaray in their second fixture.
Slot may look to freshen up his team with, potentially, one eye on the weekend’s Premier League showdown away at fellow title contenders Manchester City.
Florian Wirtz and Milos Kerkez are pushing for recalls to the starting XI after being named on the substitutes bench for the win over Villa on Saturday night.