Alexander Isak is rediscovering the goalscoring form that made him one of the Premier League's most feared strikers during his time at Newcastle United. The Swedish forward struggled with injuries during his first season at Liverpool after his British-record transfer move to Anfield, scoring just four goals in 22 appearances in all competitions.
This season has been a huge improvement under Andoni Iraola, with Isak already scoring six goals in ten appearances in all competitions. The 27-year-old has scored in each of his last three Premier League games against Brighton, Brentford and Bournemouth.
Strong run against emerging contenders
All three of those Premier League teams are among English football's most resurgent sides, pushing for European football in recent years. Two of the three are currently in the Europa League and Europa Conference League, having taken points off Liverpool's European rivals.
Liverpool, in contrast, have come away with nine points from their three games against the emerging contenders, who have been dubbed the 'Bermuda Triangle' of top flight teams given their impressive form in recent seasons.
Manager and player reaction
The Reds moved to within a point of third-placed Brighton following the win over Fabian Hurzeler's side at Anfield at the weekend, with Isak on hand to score Liverpool's second goal in the 2-0 win. Iraola was full of praise for the Swedish striker after the win over the Seagulls.
"He's a striker if we can put him in those positions, we can provide him with crosses, good situations, he will score the goals," Iraola said. "I think it's a matter of, in this case, Bradley [Barcola] winning the duel, going one-v-one, being faster than the opposition and finding good spots."
Isak's six goals in ten games represents his best start to a season, and the Reds striker says he is in a good place. "For sure, it's been way too long [waiting for a Premier League victory at Anfield], and I think it's a great way to do it: against an in-form team, and the way we did it as well, with a clean sheet. So yeah, delighted," Isak told Sky Sports.
"We had a lot of chances [in the] first half, where we won the ball and countered, we could have had more goals. Bradley did super good in that and for me it was just about being in the right place to finish it off. I think today especially the performance was really good, really solid against a really good team. The first half is really what we want to be about - intensity, winning balls and countering - so really happy, especially with the first half."
