Liverpool head coach Arne Slot was unsurprisingly tight-lipped when asked if Alexander Isak will start against Everton on Saturday.
Isak made his Liverpool debut on Tuesday against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League after joining from Newcastle United for £135million on deadline day.
He was not involved at Burnley last Sunday but should at least be in the squad for this weekend’s Merseyside derby.
The first question Slot fielded in his pre-match press conference on Friday was about Isak, his fitness, and potentially starting against Everton.
“I don’t think I tell the media a lot the day before a game,” Slot said. “We had recovery yesterday and we are going to train this afternoon.
“First of all we just have to see how they all feel. All I know is Alex probably felt his body more than ever before after the 60 minutes he played so let’s see how he recovered today then we will see about the line-up later today and you will see tomorrow.”
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Isak was signed for a British record fee a month after Liverpool bought Hugo Ekitike for an initial £69m, immediately causing uncertainty about the French striker’s role in Slot’s team.
Ekitike is capable of playing on either wing, while Isak is an out-and-out centre-forward with the technical ability to drift out wide, and Slot was asked if both could play together as a front two.
He replied: “I consider many things and it depends always on how well they are doing.
“If both of them are in the best form of their life then you consider more to play them together but it is quite clear that we have a certain structure of 4-3-3 but the amount of times the end phase where we have ended the game with two nines has happened a lot as well.
“Hugo can play from the left, different from the way Cody [Gakpo] and Rio [Ngumoha] do this and that’s the good thing about our squad.
“We have multiple options but first of all they all have to stay fit to have these options. If all of them are not fit then we may have to use them both in a 4-4-2 but that all depends on the form of them and how many players we have available.”
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Playing Isak and Ekitike in a front two would alter Mohamed Salah’s role in the team, perhaps to his detriment.
On the Egyptian superstar, the Liverpool boss said: “When you are a great player, you still attribute to the team if you don’t play well. So many players can attribute goals and assists when they play well but not a lot of them can attribute something to the team when they don’t play well.
“This is what stands out with Mo. It’s so difficult when you’re a winger to always be creative or always be the player he was against Atletico Madrid but if he is not, which is normal, then he still has goals and assists and I think that is why the fans love him so much and why he is so highly regarded and respected.
“A lot of players can play good when the team plays good but not a lot can do special things when they aren’t at their best and that’s what he can do and that’s what makes him so special.
“I prefer to see him as he was against Atletico because he was very much involved and was very positive. We played so many balls to him and he was so involved. Florian [Wirtz] found him so many times and it was a joy to watch.”
Several Liverpool players are preparing for their first Merseyside derby, including Isak, Ekitike, Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez.
Asked how he prepares derby debutants for the clash, Slot said these players are used to rivalries at their old clubs and should cope.
“It is not for the first time these players have played this game and for the new ones it is not for the first time that they play in circumstances where there are a lot of rivalries and intensity in the game,” Slot said.
“The focus should be on the rivalry but it should also be on what we need to do to win the game and that is being intense, that is winning the duels and that is also playing good on the ball and when we don’t have the ball.
“It is going to be a difficult game because they have many good players. I don’t know exactly what they are going to do.
“Is it going to be like last season when we faced them with a lot of long-balls or where as this season I have seen them playing out from the back very well. Maybe also because they have brought in some very good and talented players that can play both styles so we have to prepare them for that.
“Virgil [van Dijk], Mo [Salah] and these kind of players will tell the new ones what they can expect but we are not talking about rookies. Yes, it is special but it’s not miles off other special games they have played.”
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