Alexander Isak’s first campaign as a Liverpool player was marred by injury - including a broken leg - as he scored just four times in 22 appearances in all competitions
Liverpool forward Alexander Isak
Liverpool forward Alexander Isak (Image: (Jan Kruger/Getty Images))
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Alexander Isak has been warned that Liverpool are expecting him to fill some of the void left by Mohamed Salah. Isak scored 44 Premier League goals in his last two seasons at Newcastle United, but in an injury-plagued first campaign at Anfield the 26-year-old found the net just three times in 14 top-flight appearances.
However, the Sweden international scored in Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Nottingham Forest and former Reds defender Stephen Warnock believes the pressure is on Isak to deliver.
"It makes it a season with a bit more pressure on Isak, because of last season, the money that was spent on him, obviously it was huge,” he told Rekatochklart.com.
“Now the Liverpool fans are expecting big results. They're expecting goals. Salah's left so someone's gotta fill that void."
"Last season was always going to be a write-off. It was never going to be a season where you can afford to have a player, basically on strike, not doing a pre-season, coming in.
“But he does look fitter, he does look sharper. He looks hungry and it looks like he feels that he's probably got a little bit of weight off his shoulder because he knows that he's fit.
“I think he was always chasing, hoping to be fit, hoping that something would ignite last year. And it was just never going to happen."
"So, fingers crossed, he can do the business this year. He did okay at the World Cup and it absolutely adds to the confidence."
Even though Hugo Ekitike is expected to be out of action for a little while longer as he continues his recovery from an Achilles tendon injury, Warnock believes Reds boss Andoni Iraola will eventually have to play both Isak and the Frenchman together.
He said: "The problem with Ekitike is that we probably won't see him until New Year. And the issue you sort of get is that he's playing catch up, trying to get fit, trying to get match sharpness.
“When you're in the heat of the season, right in the middle of it, the problem is that you can't suddenly try to bed them in, you can't try and give them minutes to get them up to speed. So it'll probably be cameo roles where he's playing 20-30 minutes."
"I think there will be a time when Iraola will want to play both players. I think he'll know that both players can play on that left hand side.
“I know there's a lot of talk about who's going to play on the left and who's going to play on the right. But you've got to have competition for places at a club like Liverpool if you want to compete for league titles.
“You've got to have good players for every position. The hard thing is to keep everyone happy. However, if you're winning games and winning titles, players are happy."