There are moments after a defeat where attention quickly turns to what could have been different, and for us at Old Trafford, the absence of key attacking players was impossible to ignore.
One of those was Alexander Isak, whose continued injury issues have meant we still haven’t truly seen what our record signing can do over a sustained period.
Speaking via Liverpoolfc.com after the defeat, Arne Slot offered a clear update on the Sweden international’s situation, and it’s far more positive than many might have feared.
“We’re expecting him to be back very soon. But you saw the second half, so there’s no excuse. I haven’t spoken about missing players [and] I’m not talking about it now.
“If you can play a second half as we did, there’s no necessity to have other players here. We were able, with this team, to have a chance of winning this game and we were quite close.
“But, as always, one moment of switching off immediately leads to us conceding a goal… so many times this season it was waiting for us to score one and then we conceded because we switched off for one or two seconds in a crucial moment.”
That confirmation suggests the 26-year-old forward won’t miss the remainder of the campaign, which is a significant boost given there are only a handful of games left to play.
The frustrating reality, though, is that this season has largely passed without us being able to rely on the striker consistently.
The £125m arrival has been unavailable for 27 of a possible 49 matches, managing just 13 starts and eight substitute appearances, which underlines how cautious the club have had to be.
His absence against Manchester United was reportedly due to a minor issue, with the club unwilling to take risks given how long he had already spent sidelined, and that cautious approach now looks justified if it means he can return for the final stretch.
There’s still a sense that we’ve barely scratched the surface with the Swede, because when he scored at Anfield recently, it felt like the beginning of something rather than a culmination.
With Slot now confirming that Isak should be back very soon, the focus shifts to whether we can finally see a glimpse of the player we invested so heavily in before the season comes to a close.
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What a waste of money this has been for Liverpool. he only has to get sight of the ball and he is injured yet again. theres no more to say on this player total waste of money. Newcastle are laughing all the way to the bank.
I agree with the last comment. We only had one recognised forward on the pitch for most of the game and two teenagers on the bench. sad.
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