Alexander Isak has been told he must start delivering for Liverpool this season after a disappointing first campaign at Anfield, with the forward under pressure to fill the void left by Mohamed Salah
Liverpool forward Alexander Isak
Liverpool forward Alexander Isak has been warned he'll need to fill the void left by Mohamed Salah(Image: (Jan Kruger/Getty Images))
Alexander Isak has been put on notice that Liverpool supporters expect him to go some way towards filling the void left by Mohamed Salah's departure. Isak netted 44 Premier League goals across his final two campaigns at Newcastle United, yet an injury-ravaged debut season at Anfield yielded just three goals from 14 top-flight outings for the 26 year old.
The Sweden international did, however, get on the scoresheet in Saturday's 2-2 draw with Nottingham Forest, and former Reds defender Stephen Warnock believes the onus is firmly on Isak to deliver the goods this term.
"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.
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"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.", reports the Liverpool Echo.
"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."
Alexander Isak of Liverpool looks on during the Premier League 2026/27 match against Nottingham Forest
Liverpool is still struggling to get the best out of Alexander Isak(Image: Photo by Gaspafotos/MB Media/Getty Images)
Despite Hugo Ekitike facing an extended spell on the sidelines as he continues to recuperate from an Achilles tendon injury, Warnock believes Reds manager Andoni Iraola will ultimately need to field both Isak and the Frenchman in the same starting line-up.
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.
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"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."