Slot admits Isak fitness worry after injury setback

FRANKFURT, Germany -- Arne Slot said helium hopes Alexander Isak "isn't retired for a fewer weeks" aft the Liverpool caput manager admitted concerns implicit the £125 cardinal ($167 million) forward's fittingness pursuing a groin wounded during Wednesday's 5-1 Champions League win against Eintracht Frankfurt.

Liverpool emphatically ended their four-game losing streak against the Bundesliga broadside successful Germany, but a hamstring wounded sustained by Jeremie Frimpong and Isak's groin setback took the gloss disconnected the triumph for the Premier League champions.

Isak's conflict for signifier and fittingness continued, however, with the erstwhile Newcastle striker having an unproductive 45 minutes earlier being replaced astatine the interval by Federico Chiesa.

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And aft hardly grooming during the summertime owed to his standoff with Newcastle implicit his transportation to Liverpool, Slot said that Isak's fittingness is becoming a worry.

"Alex had to spell disconnected astatine half-time and that's not thing you inquire for," Slot said. "He felt his groin, truthful let's anticipation it's not excessively bad.

"I'm hoping that this doesn't person to beryllium that atrocious due to the fact that if helium would beryllium retired present for a fewer weeks, that would propulsion him backmost oregon enactment him back. I don't cognize however to accidental it.

"But it's the hard equilibrium we were having with him. When helium came, helium hardly had trained.

"You effort to hole players for erstwhile a week football, but if you are Liverpool and you play each 3 days, oregon usually 3 times successful 8 days, past you effort to hole them for that programme which is not ever truthful casual if you don't person preseason. So that's what we tried to do.

"He missed retired connected preseason and didn't bid for a agelong clip with the team."

Slot said that Isak was acceptable to play against Frankfurt -- "I wouldn't person played him helium if wasn't" -- but helium admitted that Liverpool are uncovering it hard to get the 26-year-old afloat acceptable aft his disrupted summer.

"He came successful the archetypal of September," Slot said. "We had to bring him to america erstwhile a week and present we've tried to bring him to doubly a week, which helium did for the nationalist squad [Sweden].

"He was perfectly acceptable erstwhile helium came backmost from the nationalist squad and helium was perfectly acceptable earlier the [Manchester] United game, truthful we were expecting him to beryllium acceptable to play again today, which helium did, but helium felt his groin a small bit.

"I deliberation we did precisely what was needed. We were truly cautious with him. The Swedish nationalist squad arsenic well.

"They played him doubly past time, which helium could do, truthful I'm not criticising astatine each the Swedish nationalist team, due to the fact that we really told them that he's acceptable to play twice.

"So it's a bladed equilibrium if you missed retired connected preseason. Some march done it and immoderate unluckily get injured again."