One goal and one assist in 495 minutes at the start of a season. You’d be forgiven for thinking that stat tells the story of Alexander Isak’s nightmare first three months at Anfield.
Well, that stat does belong to Isak – but that’s how he began the previous Premier League campaign wearing the black and white of Newcastle, rather than the red of Liverpool.
Isak went on to bang in 23 top-flight goals that season and fire the Toon to their first major domestic trophy in 70 years with a Carabao Cup final win over Arne Slot’s side to earn a British-record £125million transfer to Merseyside in the summer.
The Swede has come under fire for his underwhelming performances for the Reds but his stats across his first nine games are strikingly similar to the slow start he endured in that glorious 2024/25 term.
Isak, again, has one goal and one assist in 497 minutes across all competitions. The more concerning factor for Liverpool fans will be that his solitary strike came in a Carabao Cup win against Championship side Southampton and he is yet to get off the mark in 321 Premier League minutes but a look into his history of how he explodes into life after quiet starts may offer a glimmer of hope.
How Isak bounced back from slow starts
Those 495 minutes at Newcastle tell the story of Isak’s first seven league games last season, with his only goal coming in the fourth gameweek against Tottenham.
It was actually one goal in 585 minutes if you include his blank in the Carabao Cup against Nottingham Forest, and it was a further 32 minutes until his second goal of the campaign finally arrived in a Premier League defeat away by Chelsea on October 27.
That sparked a run where he scored in four successive games in all competitions and, in what Liverpool fans will hope to be a sign of things to come soon, his most fruitful period came either side of new year with 14 goals in 12 games, including a run of scoring in eight straight Premier League fixtures.
It was a similar story in Isak’s first two seasons in the North East. While he scored two in his first three games after joining from Real Sociedad for £63m, including a memorable debut strike against Liverpool, after a period out injured he found the net just once in 10 games with seven of his 10 Premier League goals coming from March onwards.
While he hit two in a thumping 5-1 win over Aston Villa on the opening day of the 2023/24 season, he then went four games without a goal and 13 of his 21 goals in the Premier League came after the turn of the year.
Isak has been anonymous and looks out of sorts for Liverpool so far, incredibly being on the losing side in all four top-flight games he has started with his new club slumping into the bottom half of the table.
But the conventional wisdom is that the 26-year-old, more than most players, needs rhythm to reach his best level and that once he gets a run of games under his belt he will be scoring for fun once again.
The dilemma for Liverpool boss Slot is how much more short-term pain he is willing to suffer, with his side losing eight of their past 11 games in all competitions, for the potential long-term gain of getting Isak up to speed.
Big challenges facing Isak
Of course, much of Isak’s problems have been caused by himself. His situation has been compounded by not having a proper pre-season, having gone on strike at Newcastle to force through his Liverpool move.
Taking that into account, it is no surprise he has struggled to get going and it may take longer than previous years for him to get into his stride.
He also had an adductor injury that kept him out for four games, disrupting his build-up towards match sharpness even further.
Then there is the challenge of fitting into a new team that has lost its way after romping to the title last season.
The arrivals of Isak and Florian Wirtz have changed the dynamic and Slot has not yet been able to find the solutions.
Newcastle were set up to provide for Isak, with a direct style to get him running behind defences and the likes of Jacob Murphy, Kieran Trippier and Anthony Gordon providing the service he thrives on.
For the past eight years Mo Salah has been Liverpool’s main man, the one they look to for a moment of inspiration to win a game, and it remains to be seen if Slot can get the Egyptian to work in tandem with Isak.
Perhaps Isak’s time to shine will come when Salah leaves for the Africa Cup of Nations next month, if it means the team is set up to play more to his strengths.
Isak’s late arrival allowed Hugo Ekitike the first crack at leading Liverpool’s line and the Frenchman started superbly with three goals in his first three appearances to endear himself quickly to the fans.
The former Frankfurt striker wouldn’t have expected to play second fiddle either when he joined for £79m, so Slot faces a challenge to keep both happy, especially as he prefers playing with just one No.9.
At the moment it does look like the £400m Liverpool splurged in the summer has not been spent wisely but Isak, like Wirtz, is simply too good to keep playing so badly.
At his best, Isak terrorises defences with his superb movement, pace and clinical finishing – and that is why he is worth persevering with.
Gabriel and William Saliba, the much-vaunted Arsenal defensive duo, have never looked so out of sorts as when they came up against the former Real Sociedad star last season and few have troubled Virgil van Dijk in recent years as much as the Dutchman’s new team-mate.
Don’t write Isak off yet – he just needs time.