Arne Slot has provided a worrying update on Alexander Isak after the striker was withdrawn at half-time of Liverpool’s 5-1 thrashing of Eintracht Frankfurt.
Liverpool broke their four-game losing streak in rampant style, with Isak’s strike-partner Hugo Ekitike starring against his former club at Deutsche Bank Park.
However, there was an air of uncertainty around Isak’s substitution, who had seen a couple of decent chances go awry in the first half.
Slot has now confirmed that the Swedish international was brought off as a precautionary measure after he felt something in his groin.
“He had to go off at half-time because he felt his groin a little bit,” he said. “We’ve said it many times that it’s such a difficult balance to find with a player who was out for three months.
“You bring him slowly, people argue if you can or can’t play him more, and now we’ve played him for the second time in three days and he had to go off so let’s hope for the best.
“It’s not an easy balance to find.”
Isak has endured a bumpy start to life at Liverpool following his £125m move, struggling to get up to speed after spending all of the summer on strike while trying to force a move away from Newcastle.
Slot said ahead of Liverpool’s meeting with Manchester United last weekend that Isak was approaching at the end of his own “pre-season” and that now would be the time to judge the striker who warranted a British record transfer fee on deadline day.
He may be set for a spell on the sidelines, though, with Slot not confirming whether he would be fit to face Brentford on Saturday.