Liverpool fear serious Isak injury after Van de Ven clash

Liverpool fear Alexander Isak may have suffered a significant lower leg injury after the striker was forced off during Saturday’s 2-1 Premier League win over Tottenham.

The Sweden international came on as a substitute and broke the deadlock for Arne Slot’s side, but was caught by Micky van de Ven immediately after striking the ball.

Isak attempted to continue but was unable to play on and was eventually withdrawn.

The 26-year-old, who joined Liverpool from Newcastle in a club-record £125m deal in September, is scheduled to undergo MRI scans on Sunday to assess the extent of the injury.

Those tests are expected to determine how long he could be sidelined.

Liverpool head coach Slot will next speak publicly at his scheduled news conference on Tuesday. Speaking immediately after the match, he acknowledged concern over the forward’s condition.

“We’ll have to wait and see,” Slot said. “But if a player scores and then gets injured and doesn’t try to come back on the pitch, that’s usually not a good thing.”

Isak has endured a difficult start to his Liverpool career, scoring just twice in the Premier League across 10 appearances. His progress has been hindered by a disrupted summer, having been left out of Newcastle’s pre-season tour of Asia with what the club described at the time as a minor thigh injury, amid uncertainty over his future.

He later trained alone at former club Real Sociedad before completing his move to Anfield on deadline day. Without a full pre-season, Isak arrived short of match fitness and has started only 10 games in all competitions so far this season.

Hugo Ekitike, who joined Liverpool from Eintracht Frankfurt in the summer, was also on the scoresheet against Spurs and is expected to continue leading the line if Isak is unavailable.

The 23-year-old has scored 11 goals this season, including five in his last three league appearances, a run of form that had already pushed Isak to the bench.