Liverpool manager Arne Slot says the decision to replace Alexander Isak at half-time in the 5-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt was because he was “feeling his groin a bit”.
Slot admitted he would “hope for the best” after the Swedish striker had to be replaced midway through the Reds’ Champions League clash in Germany, which they won comfortably to end a run of four consecutive defeats.
Hugo Ekitike, Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konte, Cody Gakpo and Dominik Szoboszlai all found the net at a rain-soaked Waldstadion after Rasmus Kristensen put the hosts ahead in the 26th minute.
Slot had made five changes from the team that lost to rivals Manchester United 2-1 on Sunday, with Mohamed Salah among those dropped to the bench.
The personnel change appeared to bear fruit, but the removal of their £125million signing has the Liverpool boss worried.
“He [Isak] had to come out at halftime because he felt a little bit in his groin,” Slot confirmed to TNT Sports.
“It’s a shame. It’s such a difficult balance to find with a player who missed three months.
“You bring him up slowly, people argue to play him longer. Now we’re playing him for the second time in three days and he has to go. Hopefully everything will work out for the best.”
It remains to be seen whether Isak’s injury is serious enough for him to miss the trip to Brentford in the Premier League on Saturday.
But Slot remained in good spirits after what he considers an important victory.
“We had to win,” he said. “What we needed more of was another performance that created a lot of chances but also for the players to get their reward, and that’s what happened today.
“I saw a lot of similarities with our other games. The first chance they had was a goal, maybe their only chance, but it’s easier to control a game when you’re leading 3-1 rather than 1-0.
“The main difference between this game and the previous four is that most of them, the other team scored one free kick but now we were able to score two.”
