Alexander Isak touched the ball just 16 times against Brentford on Saturday. For much of the afternoon, he was on the periphery of the game, struggling to get involved and offering relatively little outside the penalty area. Then, in the 70th minute, he controlled Bradley Barcola's knockdown and fired Liverpool into the lead. One opportunity was all he needed, and Liverpool had their third Premier League victory of the season.
Watching him, I couldn't help thinking about Erling Haaland. How often have we seen the Manchester City striker spend long periods barely involved in a match, only to appear in the penalty area and decide it? Haaland has made a career out of scoring goals without necessarily dominating matches, and I'm beginning to see similarities with Isak. They aren't identical players, but their ability to influence the outcome of a game with limited involvement is becoming remarkably similar.
What makes Isak's start particularly interesting isn't simply the number of goals he's scored. It's how important those goals have been. Liverpool have won three Premier League matches this season, and Isak has scored the winning goal in every one of them. He scored twice against Ipswich, with his early opener proving decisive in a 2–0 victory. Against Bournemouth, his 57th-minute strike was the only goal of the game, and Saturday's winner against Brentford completed Liverpool's comeback.
He also scored Liverpool's first equaliser against Nottingham Forest in August, although Forest subsequently regained the lead before Víctor Muñoz rescued a point. Five goals in six league appearances would be an excellent return by any standard, but when you consider the importance of those goals, the numbers become even more impressive. Isak isn't simply adding to comfortable victories. He's regularly making the difference in matches Liverpool might otherwise struggle to win.
That's what Liverpool paid £125 million for.
The interesting thing is that this isn't quite the Alexander Isak I remember watching at Newcastle. Go back and watch his performances there and you'll see a player with far more to his game than simply finishing chances. His touch was exceptional, his dribbling ability outstanding, and he could receive the ball with defenders around him before turning and carrying it forward. He was capable of creating something himself, sometimes from situations where there appeared to be very little danger.
I don't feel we're seeing nearly as much of that side of his game at Liverpool. He seems to spend far more time waiting for opportunities rather than getting involved in creating them, and there are matches when you almost forget he's playing. During his final Premier League season at Newcastle, Isak averaged approximately 36.6 touches per 90 minutes. This season at Liverpool, that figure has fallen to around 24.9, a reduction of almost a third. Saturday's performance against Brentford was an extreme example of that change.
But despite touching the ball considerably less, Isak is still getting himself into dangerous positions and scoring regularly. During his final Newcastle season, he scored 23 league goals from approximately 20.6 expected goals. Expected goals, or xG, measures the quality of scoring opportunities, estimating how many goals an average player would be expected to score from them. This season, he already has five goals from approximately 3.8 xG, and on a per-90-minute basis, the quality of the chances he's receiving has remained broadly similar to what he was getting at Newcastle.
It's still early, of course. Six league appearances aren't enough to establish whether that pattern will continue, but the initial numbers are encouraging. They suggest that while Isak is less involved in Liverpool's general play, he isn't necessarily becoming less dangerous. In fact, when you look at the opportunities he's receiving and the goals he's scoring, there's a reasonable argument that he's doing exactly what Liverpool need from him.
I've been thinking about why we're seeing a different version of Isak. Could his injury history be influencing the way he approaches matches? Is he becoming more selective about when to get involved, conserving his movement for the moments when he can make the biggest difference? Or is Andoni Iraola asking him to concentrate on occupying defenders and making runs into the penalty area rather than dropping deeper to collect the ball?
Another possibility is that Liverpool's style simply doesn't afford him the same opportunities to run at defenders. During the 2024–25 season, Newcastle averaged 51.1% possession in the Premier League, compared with Liverpool's 58%. It's a substantial difference, and I suspect Isak had more opportunities at Newcastle to attack defenders with space ahead of him. Liverpool are generally more accustomed to controlling possession, often against teams defending closer to their own penalty area. That could help explain why we're seeing fewer of the driving runs that made Isak such an exciting player at Newcastle.
Possession statistics alone don't prove that explanation, though. Liverpool are perfectly capable of attacking quickly themselves, and without knowing Iraola's instructions, it's difficult to establish exactly why Isak's involvement has fallen. It could be tactical, it could be something Isak is deliberately changing, or it could simply be a consequence of adapting to new teammates. Whatever the explanation, I'm not particularly concerned about it.
I can understand the frustration when you're watching a £125 million striker who barely touches the ball. I've felt it myself. When Liverpool aren't creating anything, you start wondering why Isak isn't getting involved more, dropping deeper or trying to make something happen himself. But when he gets his chance and scores the winning goal, that frustration disappears. You suddenly remember why having a goalscorer of his quality is so valuable.
I remember Roy Keane famously criticising Haaland's general play following Manchester City's goalless draw against Arsenal in March 2024. Keane described it as being almost at League Two level, a remarkable criticism of one of the most prolific goalscorers in world football. I'm certainly not suggesting Isak's general play deserves anything like that assessment. We've already seen at Newcastle how technically gifted he is, but the wider discussion about Haaland is relevant. How much involvement should we demand from a centre-forward whose greatest strength is putting the ball in the back of the net?
Haaland has demonstrated that a striker doesn't necessarily need to dominate a football match to decide it. He can spend long periods relatively quiet, barely featuring in the build-up, yet remain the most dangerous player on the pitch. Defenders cannot afford to switch off because one opportunity is often enough. And when you look at Isak's goalscoring record alongside Haaland's, the comparison becomes even more interesting.
Across the 2023–24 and 2024–25 Premier League seasons, only Haaland scored more non-penalty goals than Isak.
| Player | Appearances | Non-penalty goals |
|---|---|---|
| Erling Haaland | 62 | 39 |
| Alexander Isak | 64 | 35 |
| Mohamed Salah | 70 | 33 |
| Ollie Watkins | 75 | 33 |
| Chris Wood | 67 | 31 |
Premier League statistics, 2023–24 and 2024–25 combined.
Just four goals separated them.
And when you consider the teams they were playing for, I find that remarkable. Haaland was leading the line for Manchester City, one of the best teams in Europe, who won the Premier League in 2023–24. Isak was playing for Newcastle. That's not a criticism of Newcastle, but there's a considerable difference between the two sides, particularly in terms of the attacking talent available to them. For Isak to produce goalscoring numbers so close to Haaland's is some achievement.
Of course, playing for a stronger side doesn't automatically mean every chance is easier, and those totals alone don't establish who is the better finisher. But they demonstrate the quality Liverpool have signed. When it comes to finishing, I genuinely believe Haaland is the only player in the Premier League who compares with Isak, and that's why I'm comfortable with the role he currently occupies at Liverpool.
Liverpool have enough nice footballers. We've got Florian Wirtz, Bradley Barcola and Víctor Muñoz, players capable of receiving the ball, beating defenders and creating opportunities for others. Isak doesn't need to be another player spending his afternoon dropping into midfield and trying to make things happen himself. He has the ability to do that, as he demonstrated regularly at Newcastle, but I don't think Liverpool need him to be that player every week.
Wirtz is coming off what I consider his best week in a Liverpool shirt. Two good performances, culminating in an excellent display against Brentford, where he created nine chances from open play. Then there's Barcola and Muñoz, two players with the pace and ability to cause defenders enormous problems. Both can carry the ball forward and create opportunities, and I'd expect at least one of those three players to provide Isak with a good goalscoring chance during a match.
In fact, Saturday's winner demonstrated exactly what I'm talking about. Barcola helped create the opportunity, and Isak was in the penalty area to finish it. That's the sort of combination I want to see more frequently. I want Isak in and around the box, making intelligent runs, occupying centre-backs and getting himself into dangerous positions. If Liverpool can provide him with the service, I trust him to score goals.
His main job is to put the ball in the back of the net.
That doesn't mean his technical ability should go to waste. He's far too talented for that, and there will undoubtedly be matches when Liverpool need him to contribute more outside the penalty area. If he can combine those qualities with his current goalscoring form, Liverpool will have an even better player. But there's no point asking him to drop into midfield simply to increase his number of touches when his greatest value comes from being in the right position when Liverpool create an opportunity.
There is a reasonable criticism of the way he's playing now. When he doesn't score and barely touches the ball, Liverpool can effectively find themselves playing without a centre-forward for long periods. When the chances aren't coming, particularly against stronger opposition, you'd hope a player of Isak's ability could do more to influence proceedings. I accept that, and I wouldn't want Liverpool to become entirely dependent on his finishing. There will be games when he needs to offer something different.
But I also wouldn't want Liverpool to change something that is already producing important goals simply because Isak isn't getting involved as frequently as he did at Newcastle. Perhaps he's adapting his game as he matures, perhaps it's Liverpool's system, or perhaps we're simply seeing the early stages of a partnership between Isak and his new teammates. Whatever the reason, he's scoring goals, and ultimately that's what Liverpool signed him to do.
Saturday against Brentford wasn't his finest performance. He wasn't particularly involved, and for long spells there was little to suggest he would be the player who decided the game. But when Liverpool needed someone to make the difference, Isak was there. He didn't need 50 touches, several dribbles or a spectacular individual performance. He needed one opportunity, and he took it.
If that's what Alexander Isak is becoming, I'm more than happy with it.