Record-transfer Isak needs to step up for Liverpool after Ekitike injury
Just back from injury, Alexander Isak has to hit the ground running if Liverpool are to reach the Champions League.
Steve Nicol and Craig Burley react to Liverpool's Champions League exit vs. PSG. (2:28)
It is in keeping with the story of Liverpool 's season that the injury sustained by striker Hugo Ekitike in the UEFA Champions League quarterfinal defeat to Paris Saint-Germain will not just disrupt this campaign, but scupper plans for next term too.
When it rains, it pours for Liverpool at present and the sight of top-scorer Ekitike being stretchered off on Tuesday night with a ruptured Achilles only served to heighten the sense of gloom that has pervaded every facet of the Reds' sorry Premier League title defense.
The 23-year-old has provided a rare cause for optimism since his initial £69 million move from Eintracht Frankfurt last summer, but now looks poised to spend at least nine months on the sidelines, which will derail his hopes of competing with France at the 2026 World Cup and of building on his impressive debut season at Anfield.
The one consolation for Liverpool is that they have a £125 million striker in reserve in Alexander Isak , who joined the club from Newcastle United on deadline day last September following one of the most protracted and toxic transfer sagas in top-flight history. However, despite the fanfare that accompanied his British-record signing, a cocktail of injuries, poor form and dubious fitness has so far prevented the Sweden international from living up to the hype.
Isak has managed just 859 minutes in all competitions for Liverpool -- only a quarter of the amount he enjoyed for Newcastle last season, when he scored 27 goals in all competitions en route to a place in the PFA Team of the Year. This term, the 26-year-old has netted just three goals -- two in the Premier League -- and started only 11 of the Reds' 50 games.