After being named on the bench for the loss at Manchester City on November 9, Isak had been optimistic about his chances of playing a significant role in Sweden's two World Cup qualifiers during the latest international break. However, he only came on for the final half-hour of the 4-1 loss in Switzerland and new coach Graham Potter ultimately decided against fielding him in the dead rubber against Slovenia on Tuesday because he was concerned about the attacker picking up a booking that would have ruled him out of the country's play-off semi-final against Ukraine in March.
Isak is effectively back at square one, then. He quite clearly needs a run of games (and goals), but it's presently impossible to make a case for the Swede starting ahead of Ekitike - who scored his first goal for France last week - at a time when Slot's side are struggling and, thus, in no position to carry any passengers during a crucial run of fixtures that are absolutely imperative to them kickstarting their campaign.
Of course, one could argue that Ekitike's form will at least allow Slot to ease Isak back into action and, in fairness to the former Feyenoord coach, he has insisted all along that Liverpool were always going to need two top strikers this season to cope with the strain of trying to defend their Premier League title while simultaneously attempting to better last season's run to the last 16 of the Champions League.
At the same time, though, Slot has also acknowledged that he needs to get "Alex playing as many games as he can as soon as possible", meaning that "difficult" balancing act isn't going to get any easier in the coming weeks and months. On the contrary, the pressure on Slot to get Isak fit and firing is only going to intensify. Liverpool can't really afford to have a £125m signing sitting on the bench - or worse, in the stands.
Encouragingly, Isak said he feels physically ready to "play properly" after getting 28 minutes of game time in Geneva last Saturday and remains in a positive frame of mind.
"The preparation hasn't been optimal," he confessed to Sportbladet. "But, when I'm on the field, I don't give myself any excuses." Which is just as well really, because they'd only fall on deaf ears. Patience is already wearing thin with the third-most expensive player in football history. It's high time for Isak to start proving his worth.