Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has confirmed that Alexander Isak is back in the fold for the Reds after injury, but he won’t be starting against Manchester City.
The Reds head to the Etihad to take on City in the FA Cup quarter-finals on Saturday lunchtime, but they will be without Alisson, following a worrying update from Slot:
“He will not be part of the Paris Saint-Germain games as well. He will be out for a bit longer. Towards the end of the season we expect him to be fit.”
On the plus side, Slot also confirmed that Isak will likely be in the squad after recovering from the broken leg suffered away to Tottenham in December:
“It will be too soon to expect Isak in the starting lineup after 101 days out…it will take a bit of time to give him a lot of minutes but we will make sure we do the right thing to build him up.”
Will Alexander Isak feature for Liverpool vs. Man City?
This is a massive boost for Liverpool, considering their attack has felt too limited during his absence, especially because of the poor form of Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo.
It is important that Reds fans don’t expect too much from the Swede between now and the end of the season, but if he can contribute positively in cameo roles, including against City, it will feel like a big bonus before he enjoys a proper pre-season.
As for Liverpool’s starting lineup to face City, it will be interesting to see who Slot goes with, with Joe Gomez or Dominik Szoboszlai filling in at right-back in the absence of Jeremie Frimpong and Conor Bradley.
Milos Kerkez will likely continue at left-back, while in midfield, Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister and Florian Wirtz could all play, assuming Szoboszlai is at right-back.
Mohamed Salah is fit again, so he should return, with Gakpo and Hugo Ekitike completing the attack, but there is the option of using Wirtz or Rio Ngumoha in a left-sided role.
That’s if Gomez starts at right-back and Szoboszlai is used in his preferred No.10 berth, which arguably feels best, considering the Hungarian has been Liverpool’s Player of the Year.
