Liverpool have received a major fitness concern ahead of their huge success Premier League clash with Manchester City after Alexander Isak withdrew from the Sweden selection with an injury
The Swedish Football Association confirmed on Sunday that the 27-year-old forward will miss his country’s remaining three. League of Nations group stage matches and has returned to Merseyside for assessment.
The in-form Isak had been on the scoresheet on Friday night, scoring in Sweden’s 2-1 win over Romania before suffering the muscle setback.
He will now miss Monday’s clash with Poland, as well as the upcoming group games against Bosnia and Herzegovina and the reverse fixture with Romania.
Burnley centre-back Hjalmar Ekdal has also left the field with knock, and Sweden have confirmed that no replacement has been called up.
The timing is an unwelcome headache for Liverpool, especially given the blistering form Isak has shown since the start of the campaign. The Sweden international, who completed a £125m move to Anfield from Newcastle United last summer, is currently second in the Premier League goalscoring charts with four goals in five games.
Isak opened his account for the season at Anfield against Nottingham Forest before grabbing a decisive brace at Ipswich Town, followed by another crucial winner on the road against Bournemouth.
Neither Liverpool nor Sweden have revealed the exact nature or severity of the problem, but the Reds will be desperate to get their leading marksman back ahead of a demanding run of games.
Liverpool return to action after the international break on October 11 when they host reigning champions Manchester City in a titanic clash at Anfield, before a quick European turn at Austrian LASK in the Champions League three days later.
That precedes a trip to Brentford, a home clash with Villarreal and a league meeting with Brighton as the autumn schedule expands.