Newcastle United are back in Premier League action at home to Liverpool this evening, with Eddie Howe’s side hoping to maintain their remarkable 17-game unbeaten run in the top flight.
The Magpies’ last defeat in the division had in fact come against today’s opponents at Anfield back in August, with the Tynesiders having been cruelly denied a point on the night as teenager Fabio Carvalho fired home a winner in the eighth minute of injury to complete a second-half comeback from the Reds.
Despite the end result, that encounter had proven a particularly impressive introduction to life in English football for club-record signing Alexander Isak, with the £63m man likely to be hoping to replicate that impact by terrifying Jurgen Klopp’s team again this time around.
Will Isak play against Liverpool?
The reverse fixture on Merseyside saw the towering Swede make an instant impression in the black and white jersey after superbly firing his team ahead from a tight angle, with the former Real Sociedad ace showing remarkable composure to lash his shot into the roof of the net following Sean Longstaff’s clever sliding pass.
The 23-year-old then appeared to have doubled his tally after the interval with another stunning and clinical effort, only to see that curling strike cruelly ruled out for offside, with the 6 foot 4 titan having initially shown brilliant skill to make space for himself inside the area.
Despite only having 18 touches on that goalscoring debut, Isak had undoubtedly sparked excitement among the Newcastle support due to his finishing prowess, while also catching the eye with his physical attributes after winning four of his six duels.
That wonderful performance received notable praise from talkSPORT pundit Jason Cundy, who was already looking to the future after suggesting that the striker could go on to be worth in the region of £100m.
However, since that ‘major impact’ in which he had ‘Liverpool riled’ – as Chronicle Live’s Lee Ryder wrote at the time – the former Borussia Dortmund starlet has been unable to truly replicate such quality, with injury woes ensuring that he has been restricted to just six league appearances, scoring three goals.
The hope will be that the £120k-per-week marksman will have benefitted from his 90-minute outing against Bournemouth last week, with the “complete” asset – as lauded by his former Willem II coach Adrie Koster – no doubt raring to go once more against Klopp and co tonight.
With goals having been in short supply of late for Howe’s team as a whole, having scored only three times in their last six league games, a change in fortunes will be needed at St James’ Park this evening.
On the evidence of his last outing against Liverpool, Isak could be the man to make the difference for Newcastle in attack.
