Arne Slot is optimistic Alexander Isak can return before the end of the season after undergoing surgery on a broken leg following a tackle by Tottenham’s Micky van de Ven which the Liverpool boss branded ‘reckless’.
Isak, who joined Liverpool from Newcastle in a record £125million deal in September, was injured while scoring the opener at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday, with Van de Ven slipping after the Swede slotted the ball past Guglielmo Vicario.
He had surgery yesterday and will be missing for several months, adding to the Reds’ injury problems.
“It was a reckless challenge for me,” Slot said, speaking ahead of Saturday’s game against the Wolves. “If you make a tackle like that 10 times, 10 times, there is a chance the player will be seriously injured. It will be a long injury. A few months. It’s a big, big, big disappointment for him and also for us.
“I am convinced that he can [play a part in the back end of the season]. It was a really difficult and difficult time for him. You join a new club, he was very excited and you want to show your qualities immediately but it was simply impossible. If you haven’t trained in two or three months at a serious level, in this league you have to be at the top of your game to make an impact in a football game.
“We knew it would take months. We knew it might take him a while, that’s why he’s so unlucky that he’s injured now, as we all saw with his goals against West Ham and Tottenham, he’s gotten closer to the player he was at Newcastle.”
Slot supports Ekitike to scale up its efforts
With Isak injured and Mohamed Salah out for the Africa Cup of Nations with Egypt, the focus will be more on Hugo Ekitike to score goals over the Christmas period.
The Frenchman is the club’s top scorer this season and Slot has been impressed with his contribution following his summer move from Eintracht Frankfurt.
He added: “He still needs to get stronger but he has already gotten stronger.
He can score a goal, he has great footwork, dribbling skills, he has so much in his locker. Adapted to the Premier League now, the most important thing is how he can become physically exceptional, this is what he is working very hard on.
“The last two, three, four minutes he was very tired at Tottenham. I see that often. But there is hardly any rest for these players, I have to give them a lot of compliments. Every time they fight, fight, fight, from the first to the last second.”
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 the next two games, two tough ones again, two at home, which is good,” Slot said. “It’s time for the available players to roll up their sleeves and our supporters too to help us achieve the best possible results.
“The available players have to give everything they have and the fans, which they usually do. That’s my goal.”
