Arne Slot admits Alexander Isak selection risk as his Liverpool 'problem' laid bare

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But the Reds boss remains convinced the striker will ultimately replicate his devastating Newcastle United form at the Premier League champions.Isak has suffered a difficult opening to his Liverpool career since making a British record £125million move on transfer deadline day in September, scoring just one goal in eight appearances.The 26-year-old is continuing to play catch-up in terms of overall fitness having missed out on a proper pre-season after being banished from the Newcastle first-team squad in the summer as he sought a move to Anfield.READ MORE: Arne Slot makes Diogo Jota admission after emotional Andy Robertson interview - 'I simply don’t know'READ MORE: Liverpool hit by huge double injury blow amid Alisson Becker fitness boostHaving not featured in the Premier League for more than a month, Isak is pressing for a starting role in Saturday's visit of Nottingham Forest ahead of fellow summer signing Hugo Ekitike, who by contrast has had an impressive start to life with the Reds.And Slot accepts he could be compelled to play Isak ahead of others during upcoming games despite the player not being fully match fit."Alex, it will still take a bit of time but he will end up being the player he was at Newcastle if we get him fit, or how he was at Sociedad or all the other clubs he was at – he just needs to become fit," said the Liverpool boss."That is the challenge and it is underestimated so much if you bring a player in on September 1, when the league has already three weeks in."I do know that a 100% fit Alexander Isak is a big, big, big plus for this team. But for him to get there, he might need to have minutes where you could argue that another player might further ahead of him in terms of match fitness."He did one time a sprint above 30km/h in four months.

So we had to build him up, which is normal if you have been training on your own. We play in short spaces, so the ball comes a lot to him.

If he does some running, you can give him a bigger tank."This morning, I had a conversation with the performance staff: 'What is the best way for him – not for Liverpool – to get him as fast as we can to that 100%?'. I always have to find the balance between what is the best for him as an individual and for us as a team."Liverpool face a selection headache at right-back with Conor Bradley joining Jeremie Frimpong on the sidelines for the next three weeks with a muscle problem.