Liverpool plan for Alexander Isak revealed as Arne Slot drops new selection hint | OneFootball

British record signing should be in line for Reds debut as opening Champions League and Everton derby clashes loom this week

Arne Slot has expanded further on Liverpool’s plan for Alexander Isak ahead of a busy week in which they kick off their Champions League campaign and also contest a Merseyside derby.

However, the Liverpool boss explained ahead of kick-off against Burnley that the decision not to involve him was taken with the busy schedule and upcoming fixtures in mind.

“We think, with a week when we play three games in seven days, this is the best lead-up for him to be available against Atletico Madrid [on Wednesday],” Slot said.

The Dutchman expanded further on that plan for Isak after Mohamed Salah’s stoppage-time penalty in Lancashire maintained the defending champions’ 100 per cent start to their title defence, suggesting that the forward is ready to play 45 minutes against either Atletico or Everton - but not both.

He also insisted that Isak was “far from ready” to play a major role in three games inside the same week.

Asked if Isak had trained on Sunday morning, Slot said: “No, he did recovery but he had a hard and tough session yesterday. So, I can explain to you – it will take a few minutes but is not that difficult to understand.

“So, if you start the season when the players who have been off for three or four or five weeks, you give them a certain base. You give them a lot of good sessions before they are able in the end of the week to play 45 minutes.

“We got him from Newcastle in a state where you could say his pre-season is going to start now, so then he needs proper minutes of training before he has a certain base, let alone for him to play twice in three days.

“So, that’s what we do, what we try to prepare players for in the beginning of the season is [to play] once a week and then we try to do more and more and more for a minimum of two games a week so they are ready for that schedule.

“Now, Alex is far from ready for that schedule of three games in a week, 90 minutes. But then we could use him today for five minutes and then Wednesday again 10, and then 15, but we don’t believe that is the way to build him up.

“We believe it’s the way… Sweden did the right thing of giving him good sessions without playing him a lot because if you play the player you cannot give him good sessions.

“They did the right thing [and] we did the same, so now he will be able either Wednesday or Saturday to play 45 as a minimum, and maybe a little bit more. But if he plays 45 on Wednesday don’t expect him to play 45 or more on Saturday because his body is not prepared for that, in our opinion.”