Alexander Isak hasn’t had a great start to Liverpool life since arriving from Newcastle United for a British record fee on September 1st. He’s managed a goal and an assist from eight matches for the Premier League winners.
On October 22nd, the striker picked up a groin injury in Liverpool’s Champions League win over Eintracht Frankfurt.
He hasn’t featured for the Reds since then, but new Sweden manager Graham Potter has called him up for November’s international break. Last week, Potter was optimistic of his availability for the two fixtures.
Sweden take on Switzerland in the World Cup qualifier on Saturday. In his pre-match press conference, the national team boss discussed Isak’s situation and Fotbollskanalen have relayed his comments.
When asked whether the 26-year-old can start today, he said: “No. He’s not ready to start tomorrow [Saturday].”
The manager believes Isak isn’t in the right shape to play back-to-back 90 minutes for Sweden in a short period and needs to be managed carefully. There seems to be concern over the Liverpool summer signing’s fitness.
“He’s not ready to play two 90-minute matches in four days. So we have to be smart and use him in a good way,” Potter explained.
“I don’t want to talk too much about details or the starting XI. I think the best thing for Alex is to help us tomorrow [Saturday] from the bench.”
Isak hasn’t played for over three weeks, and it makes sense not to start him, to avoid risk of a setback.