Copyright Yardbarker
Although Liverpool enjoyed a tremendous Wednesday night as they thrashed Eintracht Frankfurt 5-1, it was a frustrating trip to Germany on a personal level for Alexander Isak. The Reds’ record signing made his eighth appearance for the club tonight but remains stuck on just the one goal, and while fellow forwards Hugo Ekitike and Cody Gakpo both netted at Deutsche Bank Park, the Sweden international was substituted at half-time. The 26-year-old may have spurned one decent chance to score when his effort was gathered by Michael Zetterer, but he also forced another good save from the home side’s goalkeeper, and his withdrawal at the interval was hardly performance-related. Slot explains half-time Isak substitution Indeed, Arne Slot confirmed after the match that he substituted Isak due to the onset of a groin issue during the first half. The Liverpool head coach told TNT Sports: “He had to go off at half-time because he felt his groin a little bit. That’s a pity. I’ve said many times it’s such a difficult balance to find with a player who missed three months. “You bring him slowly with him and people maybe argue we should play him more often. We’ve now played him for the second time in three days and unfortunately he had to go off. Let’s hope for the best, but it’s not an easy balance to find when a player has been out for so long.” Hopefully Isak’s groin issue isn’t too severe Other than the one goal they conceded, the only other discernible negative for Liverpool tonight was the enforced withdrawal of both Isak and Jeremie Frimpong before the start of the second half, with the latter potentially facing a six-week layoff after injuring his hamstring. Slot took caution by substituting the Swedish striker at the interval and made reference to how the 26-year-old has been gradually blooded into the Reds’ line-up after not having a proper pre-season while he sought to engineer an exit from Newcastle. We await to discover the extent of the forward’s groin problem and whether he’ll be sidelined for the Premier League clash against Brentford on Saturday, a quick turnaround which leaves our number 9 in a race against time to be fit for the match in west London. Let’s hope for good news on Isak in the coming days – hopefully the Liverpool boss acted quickly enough by withdrawing him at half-time.
