Why Alexander Isak is not in Liverpool squad vs Burnley after Arne Slot warning

Liverpool star Alexander Isakwill NOT make his debut for the Reds against Burnley having been left out of the squad. The Swedish striker completed a British record £130m move to Anfield on deadline day.

But he has only had a limited amount of time training with his new teammates. Isak was immediately called up for international duty with Sweden.

He is also still working himself towards full fitness having not had a pre-season with former club Newcastle United. And it appears that he is not totally ready to make his Liverpool bow.

Isak was not with the Liverpool squad to arrive at Turf Moor ahead of Sunday's clash with Burnley. Liverpool boss Arne Slot had already warned that his new forward would have to be eased into duty.

And speaking ahead of the clash with Burnley, Slot revealed that there was optimism that Isak would be ready sooner rather than later. He said: "As everybody knew, he didn’t have any team training at Newcastle, then went to the national team [and] only played there for 15 to 20 minutes.

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“We think, with a week where we play three games in seven days, this is the best lead-up for him to be available against Atletico Madrid.

“That’s always difficult to say [how quickly he will be] up to full speed. What I can say is that normally in a pre-season, after one or two weeks you play your first 45 to 60 minutes, you build that up gradually.

“But that you do with proper training sessions during the week, and now we hardly have any proper training sessions with the team because we play, like I just said, three games in seven days.

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“So, where would he be? Second or third week of pre-season, I would say, so able to hopefully play during the week 45 minutes or more, but then two days later, as you know, we play Everton again.

“It’s going to be interesting for the performance staff, for us, to get the best out of him at the start but also to keep him available for the end.”

Isak's next chance for his Liverpool debut could now come next week. Slot's side kick off their Champions League campaign against Atletico Madrid at Anfield before welcoming Merseyside rivals Everton next weekend.

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