What Swedish media said about Alexander Isak as another defeat leaves World Cup hopes dangling

Alexander Isak was unable to prevent Sweden from suffering another defeat which leaves their hopes of World Cup qualification dangling by a thread, but it wasn’t for the want of trying from the Liverpool striker.

The 26-year-old said in the lead-up to Friday night’s match against Switzerland that he’d be ready to play 90 minutes if needed, and that’s exactly what he was given by Jon Dahl Tomasson in Solna.

The £125m man didn’t get on the scoresheet as his country lost 2-0, a result which leaves them rooted to the bottom of UEFA Group B midway through their qualifying campaign, although the Swedish media noted some positives from the Reds’ number 9.

What did Swedish media say about Isak’s display on Friday?

Expressen wrote that Isak was ‘quick in the flesh – and in the head’, an encouraging assessment for Liverpool fans given that the forward hasn’t been at full fitness since coming to Anfield, although it was noted that he visibly tired later on in the game.

Fotboll Skanlen observed that the Reds striker ‘missed a great opportunity’ when he struck the post from close range and ‘should have had an assist’ for one chance that he set up for Lucas Bergvall, but the Tottenham Hotspur youngster failed to take full advantage.

Isak seems to be getting close to full sharpness again

The statistics would suggest that Isak had a quiet outing in Sweden’s defeat to Switzerland, having completed just 12 passes, lost six of his seven duels, recorded zero shots on target and lost the ball 12 times from 31 touches (Sofascore).

We still haven’t seen the best of the 26-year-old since his move to Liverpool, but his fitness will be greatly helped by a first 90-minute outing in months, and Tomasson will likely want to give him the full match against Kosovo on Monday as they search for a badly-needed win.

The Swede has alternated with Hugo Ekitike (who also hit the post on international duty last night) in recent starting line-ups for the Reds, and Arne Slot has yet to show a willingness to find room for both of them in his XI, so the competition for the sole centre-forward berth looks set to continue.

Despite Isak being frustrated on an individiual and collective level on Friday, it would appear that he’s getting close to rediscovering his prime condition, which in turn should see him regain the sharpness which helped him to score 27 goals for Newcastle last season.

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