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Liverpool’s patience with Alexander Isak is finally paying dividends, with the £125m record signing beginning to look every bit like the most expensive forward in Premier League history. Isak’s clinical finish in Liverpool's 2-0 win over in-form Brighton at Anfield last time out took his tally to six goals in his last six league outings. Furthermore, he has found the net in three consecutive Premier League matches for the first time since January 2025, when he embarked on an eight-game scoring streak for Newcastle.
Equally encouraging for head coach Andoni Iraola was the chemistry between Isak and fellow £100m-plus arrival Bradley Barcola, who was deployed on the right flank of the attacking trident. The French forward broke away from the defense before picking out Isak in his most lethal area—right inside the six-yard box.
This was precisely the vision of Richard Hughes and Michael Edwards—the architects behind Isak's British-record move last summer. Having also landed Florian Wirtz for a similarly blockbuster fee, their blueprint was to build upon the previous season's title triumph by investing heavily in marquee talent. It was a clear departure from Arsenal’s approach of distributing funds across multiple squad reinforcements to build greater depth.
Following Edwards' departure in July, Hughes finalized the deal for Barcola before stepping down himself. In doing so, Liverpool doubled down on targeting technical, dynamic players at a time when the Premier League is becoming increasingly physical. Yet, their blueprint for Liverpool’s post-Mohamed Salah attack is finally coming to fruition—nowhere more evident than with Isak.
The initial signs of a resurgence came with Isak's promising displays for Sweden at last summer's World Cup. He followed that with an impressive pre-season and carried that momentum straight into the new campaign. Isak opened his account in the 2-2 home draw against Nottingham Forest in August—the first of six goals in seven Premier League appearances so far, leaving him just one behind league leader Erling Haaland.
Underlining his importance, the 27-year-old has scored in every single one of Liverpool’s league victories this season. Meanwhile, Victor Muñoz is the only other team-mate with more than one Premier League goal to his name. Yet Iraola is far less concerned with raw goal numbers than how his star striker aids the team's pressing high up the pitch.
“He is a massive player for us,” Iraola told Sky Sports in September. “My demands on him are probably not about goals. I know that when he is healthy and in good physical condition, he will deliver those numbers. My conversations with him are more about the other aspects—how he helps the team in every phase of the game.”
It was no surprise, then, that despite the striker's red-hot streak in front of goal, the Liverpool boss reiterated that exact message ahead of Sunday’s crucial home clash against Arsenal.
“I think Alex feels everyone's trust,” Iraola said this week. “Everyone believes that if he gets into the right areas, he will score goals. But I always tell him that he needs to help us create those situations for him. I think he understands that, and I hope he continues performing at this level.”
Isak’s resurgence isn’t just passing the eye test. Looking far sharper and moving much more freely after last season's injury woes, the Sweden international is finally resembling the player Liverpool thought they were signing.
The underlying metrics tell a similar story of dramatic attacking improvement. Isak is averaging nearly an extra shot per game in the Premier League this season—3.15 up from 2.18. This largely explains why his expected goals (xG) per 90 has doubled, surging from 0.33 to 0.67.
Meanwhile, his return of 0.95 goals per 90 minutes is bettered only by Haaland. Among Premier League forwards, only the Norwegian averages fewer touches per game (24.1) than Isak (24.6). Yet, like Manchester City's talisman, when an opportunity falls the Swede's way, he is lethal.
These figures are matching his most prolific season in English football, when he netted 27 goals in just 42 appearances across all competitions during his final campaign at St James' Park.
“He is so vital because Liverpool aren't a side scoring heaps of goals right now,” remarked Jamie Carragher on his former club’s attacking reliance on Isak. “Who else is going to score the goals? Victor Muñoz has a couple, but Isak has made a brilliant start—in stark contrast to last season when he was plagued by injuries. We probably haven't even seen the best version of Isak yet, the one we saw at Newcastle. That will come with more games and training under Iraola. We might see his absolute best in the second half of the season. But he's scoring already and must keep going, because there aren't many other goalscorers around him at Liverpool.”
Managing Isak's workload will naturally remain a top priority for Iraola and his medical staff. With fellow striker Hugo Ekitike sidelined until the new year with a serious Achilles tendon injury, the Liverpool manager has frequently turned to Lewis Koumas off the bench in the closing stages. Such caution was reinforced when Isak sat out the 3-0 home defeat by Manchester City due to a groin issue picked up on international duty.
Injuries have unfortunately been a recurring theme since Isak arrived at Anfield, much as they were during spells of his three seasons at Newcastle. Having effectively downed tools and missed the entirety of pre-season to push through his move, he was playing catch-up with his fitness from the outset.
An adductor injury ruled him out for four games across October and November, followed by a 106-day layoff after suffering a fractured left leg against Tottenham just before Christmas.
When he finally returned in May, another adductor issue sidelined him for nearly three weeks, putting a cap on a nightmare debut campaign that yielded just three Premier League goals.
Balancing fitness recovery with the suffocating pressure of a British-record price tag proved an overwhelming hurdle.
With Liverpool's form unravelling around him, that scrutiny took a heavy toll on a striker who is naturally reserved and quiet away from the pitch.
Now fully fit, Isak is leading the line as Liverpool find their groove under their new head coach.
In many ways, this feels like a genuine fresh start for Isak at Anfield.
With the reigning champions visiting this weekend—the very club linked with a swoop for him in January 2025—the striker has the perfect stage to prove why he has become the catalyst behind Liverpool's revival under Andoni Iraola.
Analysis by Richard Morgan for Sky Sports
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