Isak’s latest thigh injury leaves Liverpool without three forwards against City
Alexander Isak will miss Liverpool’s meeting with Manchester City on Sunday after suffering another thigh injury, and manager Andoni Iraola has no return date…
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Alexander Isak will miss Liverpool’s meeting with Manchester City on Sunday after suffering another thigh injury, and manager Andoni Iraola has no return date. With Cody Gakpo also ruled out and Hugo Ekitike still a long-term absentee, Liverpool will be without three forwards for the next fixture.
Isak returned early from Sweden’s international camp after the setback. His absence is the immediate problem; the longer-term concern is that Liverpool still do not know when they will have him back.
The numbers show why this is more than one missed game. Liverpool spent more than £125 million on Isak, a fee The Mag describes as the highest ever paid by a Premier League club. Yet in his first season at the club, he made only 14 league appearances, starting eight. Across Liverpool’s 57 matches in all competitions in 2025/26, he started just 13.
That is a sharp change from his final season at Newcastle United. Isak appeared in 42 of Newcastle’s 48 matches in 2024/25 and started 41, including 34 Premier League games. Only Bruno Guimaraes and Dan Burn made more starts for Newcastle in all competitions, with 42 and 44 respectively.
The comparison does not explain why Isak’s availability has changed, but it makes the difference in workload plain. Liverpool have had far fewer chances to build around a forward who had been a regular starter for Newcastle. The Mag also reports that, alongside a major injury, smaller problems affected Isak’s availability or left him unable to start during his Liverpool campaign.
Gakpo’s absence removes another option: he has scored one Premier League goal this season. Ekitike’s continuing long-term absence leaves Iraola with a further gap as Liverpool prepare for City.
For Sunday, the task is clear: Liverpool must put together an attack without Isak, Gakpo or Ekitike. Beyond that match, planning around Isak remains difficult until the club can give a return date. The verdict is stark: the fee bought a high-profile forward, but Liverpool have not yet had the sustained availability that defined his final Newcastle season.
