Liverpool’s game against Newcastle on Monday is set to be dominated by the figure of Alexander Isak.
Isak has been pushing to leave Newcastle to join the Reds since mid-July, with the Magpies digging in hard to stop him from going.
Things came to a head on Tuesday night at the PFA awards, when Isak shared a statement on social media announcing his intention to exit.
Newcastle quickly hit back, and while the conditions of a sale are yet to be met, it feels as though Isak is moving further and further away from Liverpool.
In the midst of the saga, a football game is set to be played. Typically, Liverpool and Newcastle will face off on the pitch.
And ahead of a much anticipated match at St James’ Park, Toon boss Eddie Howe has definitively confirmed whether Isak will be involved in any capacity.
Alexander Isak gestures to teammates during Newcastle United's Premier League match against Everton at St James' Park.
Photo by George Wood/Getty Images
Alexander Isak will not be involved against Liverpool
How much Newcastle miss Isak was laid bare last weekend as they played without a recognised centre-forward against Aston Villa.
Clearly, they would love for the Swede to be back firing against the Premier League champions.
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However, as Howe revealed during his pre-match press conference on Friday, Isak will not be involved given his current uncertainty.
READ MORE: Liverpool’s involvement in Alexander Isak’s statement revealed as ‘ludicrous’ verdict emerges
“He won’t be part of the squad this weekend,” admitted the manager.
“The club has to act in the best interests of Newcastle United. It will do that in every situation. It looks like it is coming to an end, or it will come to an end pretty quickly.”
Howe reveals Newcastle fitness boost
From a purely Liverpool point of view, the absence of Isak on Monday is clearly positive news.
Taking away the transfer drama, the 25-year-old simply has an excellent record against the Reds and is always an enormous threat.
Remove him from the team, and Newcastle can still hurt you, there’s no question about that, but they should be less trouble to deal with, to a degree.
Nevertheless, Howe did confirm that his team had had a boost leading up to the game with the sooner-than-expected return from injury of midfielder Joe Willock.
“Joe trained on Tuesday and Wednesday and trained really well,” he said. “When he went down in the game in Korea I thought he was going to be out longer term, it didn’t look good. Credit to him, he’s got back fit and looking good.”