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Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has confirmed that Alexander Isak is available for selection this weekend when the Reds take on Crystal Palace in the Premier League.
Isak's minutes have been managed carefully up to this point as he continues to get back up to speed following his disrupted summer. But with Hugo Ekitike suspended, Isak might be needed from the start again.
"He is able to play minutes again," Slot confirmed in his pre-match press conference. "I still feel 90 is still dependent on the pace and intensity of the game and that might be too much.
"Not only that, but also for the long term, you can give a player maybe what I would call a stupid hit to bring him to 90 and then his body is too far over the line. So I don't think it is smart to play 90 yet.
"But he's further into his pre-season now and then normally, two or three weeks into pre-season, players go 60 to 70 minutes. Some clubs even bring them to 90, but if we look at our pre-season, we usually do 60 or 70."
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