Liverpool: Isak is ‘fragile’ as ‘dreadful Raphael Varane at Man Utd’ comparison made | OneFootball

Liverpool striker Alexander Isak has been branded “fragile” by talkSPORT pundit Tony Cascarino, who has also compared the Swedish star to former Manchester United defender Raphael Varane.

Isak was among the goalscorers for Liverpool in their 3-1 win against Crystal Palace at Anfield last weekend and was expected to start against Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday.

A win against Michael Carrick’s side will secure a top-five spot in the Premier League table for Liverpool.

However, Isak will not feature in the game, with The Sun reporting that the former Newcastle United striker suffered a groin strain in training.

Isak will be bitterly disappointed, with the Sweden international striker having been able to make only five appearances since recovering from a broken leg he suffered in December 2025.

Much was expected of Isak when he joined Liverpool from Newcastle in the summer of 2025 for £125million, becoming the most expensive signing in the Merseyside club’s history.

The 26-year-old has scored four goals and given one assist in 21 matches in all competitions for Liverpool this season.

Liverpool striker Isak compared to former Man Utd defender Varane

Former Chelsea striker Tony Cascarino has raised concerns over the injury problems that Isak has been having.

The talkSPORT pundit has drawn comparisons with Raphael Varane, who joined Man Utd from Real Madrid in 2021.

Varane had injury issues at Madrid, and the Frenchman’s career at Man Utd, too, was punctuated by fitness problems.

The 33-year-old former France international central defender, who played 360 matches in all competitions for Madrid, made only 96 appearances for Man Utd.

Varane left Man Utd in the summer of 2024 and moved to Como, but he had to eventually retire in September 2024 at the age of 31 after suffering a serious knee injury.

Cascarino said about Isak on talkSPORT (8:09am, May 3, 2026): “No, there is one big concern with me, is this continual injuries because you can’t, you know, you build a squad.

“I remember when I talked about Varane at Manchester United, Raphael Varane when he joined Manchester United, you look at his injury record, it was dreadful.

“He sort of played over, I think, in his 10 years he was at Real Madrid, he had like 220 games, he averaged like low 20s every season in La Liga.

“Now, Isak has had injury issues. Obviously, he had a really bad one this year, okay, so he missed a lot of football, but generally, he keeps getting niggles as well.

“He had a few at Newcastle. Well, if you keep getting, you pick up a groin, then you pick a hamstring, you pick up a calf, it feels like.

“I don’t know, and we won’t know this until into next season, is Isak going to have an injury-free season?

“Because that’s a big issue. Because he is quite fragile, even though, you know, he is an athlete, you look at him, he seems to get a lot of niggles.

“He had them at Newcastle. He never had a serious injury at Newcastle for a long period of time.”