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Any Liverpool fans making the short commute from Merseyside to Lancashire on Sunday with hopes of seeing Alexander Isak make a full debut look set to be disappointed.
The striker seemed sharp in Wednesday’s training footage, but any expectation of an immediate start against Burnley always felt optimistic. The Swedish star hasn’t played a full match in approaching four months and has faced a difficult summer with a lack of competitive training in that time.
He was eased back into match involvement over the international break and played just 18 minutes across two vital games for Sweden. Arne Slot’s message on Friday was that fans need to be patient with the club’s record signing.
“Don’t expect him to be every single game 90 minutes on the pitch,” warned the Liverpool head coach ahead of the clash at Turf Moor. “That’s definitely not going to happen for the next few weeks.
“He missed a proper pre-season. I think he missed three or four months of team sessions, so now we have to build him up gradually with us playing so many games and hardly any training time.
“That is going to be a challenge, but we have not just signed him for the upcoming two weeks, we have signed him for six years so this is what we have to keep in mind, and what the fans have to keep in mind if I take him off in a certain moment or I only bring him in for a few moments. That is all for the fitness of the player.”
In reality, there is no need for Slot to rush Isak. After all, no-one has scored more than Liverpool after three games of the campaign - and that’s despite Florian Wirtz still finding his feet and Mohamed Salah not yet firing on all cylinders.
In contrast, Cody Gakpo has immediately picked up where he left off last season, with three goal contributions so far, the same number as Hugo Ekitike.
It will be the Frenchman who will benefit most from Isak’s phased start to life at Anfield. Ekitike will most likely lead the line on Sunday, and can expect to start against Atletico Madrid and Everton the following week.
Slot will hope Ekitike can build on his impressive beginning at Liverpool, with three goals in his first three matches. The summer recruit has displayed a sharpness, ability to link play, and a turn of pace that have impressed supporters.
In fact, Ekitke may feel unfortunate to miss out on August’s Premier League Player of the Month award, which was scooped by Jack Grealish.
Ektike’s stock is on the rise, that’s for sure. That was underlined by his maiden France call-up over the international break, and he featured in both matches for Les Bleus.
Another goal against Burnley would continue that trajectory and remove any thoughts that Isak must be immediately incorporated into the Liverpool line-up.
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