Arne Slot is optimistic Alexander Isak can return before the end of the season after undergoing surgery on a broken leg following a tackle from Tottenham’s Micky van de Ven that the Liverpool boss described as “reckless”.
Isak, who joined Liverpool from Newcastle in a club-record £125m deal in September, sustained the injury in the act of scoring the opener at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday, Van de Ven sliding in after the Swede had slotted the ball past Guglielmo Vicario.
He was operated on yesterday and will now be missing for several months, adding to the Reds’ injury problems.
“It was for me a reckless challenge,” said Slot, speaking ahead of Saturday’s game with Wolves. “If you make a tackle like that 10 times, 10 times there is a chance the player gets a serious injury. It’s going to be a long injury. A couple of months. That’s a big, big, big disappointment for him and also for us.
“I’m confident he can [play a part in the back end of the season]. It’s been a really challenging and difficult period for him. You join a new club, he was very excited and you want to show immediately your qualities but that was simply impossible. If you haven’t trained for two or three months at a serious level, in this league you have to be on top of your game to impact a game of football.
“We knew it would take months. We knew it could take him time, that’s why he’s so unlucky he’s now injured as we all saw with his goals versus West Ham and Tottenham he got closer to the player he was at Newcastle.”
Slot backs Ekitike to step up
With Isak injured and Mohamed Salah away at the Africa Cup of Nations with Egypt, there will be a greater emphasis placed on Hugo Ekitike to get the goals over the Christmas period.
The Frenchman is the club’s top scorer this season and Slot has been impressed by his input following a summer move from Eintracht Frankfurt.
He added: “He still needs to get stronger but he’s already become stronger.
He can score a goal, he has great footwork, dribbling skills, he has so much in his locker. Adjusted to the Premier League now, the biggest thing is how he can become physically outstanding, that’s what he is working on really hard.
“Last two, three, four minutes he was very tired at Tottenham. I see this often. But there’s hardly any rest for these players, I have to give them a lot of compliments. Every time they fight, fight, fight from first second to the last.”
Liverpool have two winnable games over Christmas
Liverpool have had a difficult few weeks as they look to defend their Premier League crown but will be optimistic of finishing 2025 on a high with home games against Wolves and Leeds over the next eight days.
“My only thoughts are on the upcoming two games, two difficult ones again, two home ones which is nice,” said Slot. “It’s time for the players available to roll their sleeves up and our fans as well to help us get the best possible results.
“The players who are available need to give everything they have and the fans, which they usually do. That’s my focus.”