Alexander Isak, left, and Hugo Ekitike, right, have typically been substituted on for one another for Liverpool - never playing upfront as a duo.placeholder image
Alexander Isak, left, and Hugo Ekitike, right, have typically been substituted on for one another for Liverpool - never playing upfront as a duo. | Getty Images
Liverpool have struggled in the past without Mohamed Salah, but does his AFCON enforced absence open up Arne Slot to play his expensively assembled forward line?
Liverpool aren’t entirely out of the woods just yet even if Arne Slot appears to have found a system that works and gets results.
Five games unbeaten sees the Reds slowly climbing the Premier League table with the manager making some big decisions along the way. Mohamed Salah’s falling out could have long-term effects especially if the interest from the Saudi Pro League becomes more concrete. That several wingers have been linked and Antoine Semenyo is reported to have agreed personal terms suggests that Richard Hughes is preparing for life without the Egyptian King.
Arne Slot to go back on his word with Alexander Isak
With Cody Gakpo still injured and Salah on international duty, Slot’s mind has almost been made up for him in terms of formation with Federico Chiesa still not given a fair crack by the Liverpool boss and Rio Ngumoha playing for the Under-21s. The obvious solution appears from the outset to play Hugo Ekitike and Alexander Isak together, however, speaking on The Athletic’s Walk On podcast, James Pearce isn’t so sure when asked if the strike duo will be paired together: “Well, he did it, didn't he?
“In Milan, I think, it felt to me a little bit like it was almost enforced on him with the lack of other options available on the night with, of course, I think he felt that he felt that Wirtz needed a breather, he'd left Salah at home, Gakpo was missing. So, in that 4-4-2 diamond, it could potentially work, although I don't think we've seen any signs to make us believe that it's going to become a regular thing because I just don't think it's clicked.
“I know Liverpool won in the San Siro, but it wasn't thanks to that double act up top. There was one stat on the night that Isak and Ekitike didn't actually exchange a single pass between them all night. I just thought the system in general does make Liverpool more compact.
“But it was telling, I thought, that night in the San Siro that when he did change it, and then Liverpool looked more threatening last 20, it was Isak rather than Ekitike that went off. And then of course, against Brighton last weekend, it's Ekitike starting ahead of him in a slightly changed system. It was more kind of 4-2-3-1 really.”
Is there room for Isak in Liverpool’s starting XI?
On paper, Isak and Ekitike should be able to play together and Slot has said that he will pick them together, but on the rare occasions that they have been seen, it hasn’t clicked. What Slot has done is found the best system to let Florian Wirtz play to the best of his ability and it looks like only a matter of time before he starts producing the numbers that his performances deserve. The last thing that Slot should be doing is trying to shoehorn a player into the starting XI who hasn’t been playing well at the expense of two who have been.
For now, the transfer fee paid for Isak must be ignored and the big Swede should be made to wait for his turn and work harder to impress when he is used to cover Ekitike or when he comes off the bench. As with Ekitike and Wirtz, there is no reason to take out any of the midfielders who have been playing well recently so that Isak can start. The whole point of having depth and having quality options is for this precise scenario. Competition for places is a good thing and Ekitike has shown that he is up for the fight, now Isak has to do the same.
Continue Reading