Arne Slot makes decision on Alexander Isak ahead of Liverpool’s Champions League clash with Atletico Madrid after £125m man missed Burnley win
Alexander Isak is in line to make his Liverpool debut at Anfield on Wednesday as the Premier League champions begin their European campaign against Atletico Madrid.
Arne Slot is confident his team can close the gap on the kings of Europe, Paris Saint-Germain, after taking them to extra-time and penalties last year – and believes the addition of new weapons like Isak and Florian Wirtz can take his side to the next level.
And the £125million man will be in the squad for the visit of Atletico after not travelling to Burnley on Sunday. ‘There is definitely a chance because he is in the squad, then there is a chance to play,’ said Slot.
‘It is 100 per cent sure he will not play 90 minutes. But he is part of the squad so it is already a Champions League game to look forward to but if people look forward to his playing time that could mean that could happen tomorrow as well.’
Asked what Isak’s biggest challenge is, Slot added: ‘Getting fit. He doesn’t have to prove to anyone he is good enough to play in the Premier League because that is what he has proven already at Newcastle.’
Slot thinks that Liverpool are ahead of schedule in what he was expecting this season after a summer of change and trauma off the pitch in terms of transfer window business and also the tragic loss of striker Diogo Jota, who passed away in early July.
Alexander Isak could make his Liverpool debut in the Champions League on Wednesday
Arne Slot confirmed Isak will be in the squad but stated that he will not play the full match
The Reds have won all four Premier League games despite not being at their best in terms of performances and Slot said: ‘We are far above my expectations this summer. We all knew what happened this summer.
‘When the schedule came out we had to face Newcastle and Arsenal. So for us to be on 12 points now is so much more than I expected, especially when we had so many changes in the squad. I think we can do better.
‘There is so much focus on our new signings, especially from pundits that favour some other clubs in the country. They cannot stop talking about £450m (that Liverpool spent) – I repeat, £450m, £450m! But they forget about the £300m that we have sold for.
‘There is so much focus on Florian. He is part of a team that is top of the league, who won against Newcastle and Arsenal, where last year we didn’t win. Yes, he hasn’t scored four goals and got 12 assists but that is down to the quality we faced. He is part of a team that is No 1.’
On their chances of winning the Champions League, Slot said: ‘We were so close (last year). I think (PSG boss) Luis Enrique said the team who is going to win the play-off will win the tournament and he was right.
‘We were the only team who could bring them to extra-time and the only team who could bring them to penalties. If you go out, I prefer to go out to the team who wins. They were the best team. That we were so close to beating them gives us the confidence we can compete.’
Goalkeeper Alisson, meanwhile, said the Reds must do better in Europe. ‘We had the quality at the time (against PSG), we could do better. We had the feeling we could do better.
‘Of course, if you say if we had beaten PSG we would have won the Champions League then that is not true, we respect the competition a lot. We know that from our side we could do much better and this is what we will try and do this season.’
Curtis Jones is the only absentee for Liverpool but he will train again this week, while Atletico – who Slot joked he has nightmares about after facing them with Feyenoord – will be without star striker Julian Alvarez, the Argentine set to miss a game through injury for the first time in his career.
