When Liverpool travel to St James’ Park on Monday night, the fixture will inevitably be framed around Alexander Isak. Yet the irony is that the Swedish striker won’t even be on the pitch.
Isak, Newcastle’s £110m-rated talisman, has accused the club of breaking promises by rejecting Liverpool’s bid for him this summer. The fallout has been ugly: a public statement on Instagram, an official rebuttal from Newcastle insisting no such pledge was ever made, and an ongoing stand-off that has seen the forward miss training. Manager Eddie Howe has confirmed that Isak will not feature against Liverpool, leaving Newcastle without their star striker and with serious questions to answer.
Liverpool, on the other hand, are enjoying the form of a man who could make Isak seem unnecessary. Hugo Ekitike, a player both clubs tried to sign, has started his Anfield career on fire. The French forward has scored in each of his first two games, and if he finds the net again on Monday, he’ll match Daniel Sturridge’s 2013 feat of scoring in his first three Liverpool appearances. For Newcastle, it could feel like a painful glimpse of “the one that got away.”
With Isak unavailable, Howe has been forced into improvisation. Anthony Gordon, a boyhood Liverpool fan once linked with a switch to Anfield himself, is expected to lead the line. Newcastle supporters rallied behind him at Villa Park last week, chanting his name loudly after a frustrating 0-0 draw. Yet even Gordon’s effort cannot disguise the reality: Newcastle have been frustrated in their striker search, failing to land Benjamin Šeško, Bryan Mbeumo, Joao Pedro, Liam Delap, or Yoane Wissa, all of whom stayed within the Premier League’s established elite.
Arne Slot, meanwhile, brushed aside talk of Newcastle being in crisis. “I don’t think they are a club with troubles,” the Liverpool manager said. “They have a lot of options.” Still, Slot acknowledged that without Isak, Newcastle lack a cutting edge — something painfully clear when they couldn’t beat 10-man Aston Villa last weekend despite dominating.
Liverpool have their own absentees, with new signing Jeremie Frimpong sidelined by a hamstring injury and doubts over whether Conor Bradley or Joe Gomez will be ready at right-back. But crucially, Liverpool have strikers. Newcastle don’t.
And that is the cruel twist: the Alexander Isak derby will be played without Isak, but with his absence hanging over everything. Newcastle turned down Liverpool’s money, kept their unhappy striker, and now enter Monday’s showdown undermanned up front. Liverpool, in contrast, may well let Ekitike do the talking on their behalf.
For the Magpies, it’s a destabilising impasse. For Liverpool, it’s an opportunity to inflict damage where it already hurts.
The Tactical Journal 
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