Newcastle United latest news: Alexander Isak won’t feature against his former side after breaking his leg during Liverpool’s win over Spurs on Saturday.
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Arne Slot has brandished Micky Van de Ven’s tackle on Alexander Isak as ‘reckless’ following confirmation that the Swedish international faces a number of months on the sidelines.
Isak netted just his second Premier League goal of the season against Tottenham Hotspur at the weekend, but was injured following a desperate tackle by Van de Ven to stop him netting. Isak was unable to continue following the tackle and was replaced by Slot.
It has since been confirmed that Isak has suffered a broken leg and that he will be out for a ‘couple of months’ as he recovers from that injury. That timeframe on his injury means that Isak will miss the reunion with Newcastle United at Anfield next month.
Eddie Howe’s side will travel to Merseyside on the final day of January for a Premier League clash just days after the two clubs play their final Champions League league phase games. However, Isak, who missed the reverse fixture at St James’ Park after refusing to play for the Magpies, will not feature against his former employers.
Arne Slot slams ‘reckless’ Micky Van de Ven
Slot spoke about Isak’s injury for the first time on Tuesday when he was asked for an update on the striker ahead of their clash with Wolves at the weekend. The Dutchman said: “It's going to be a long injury, for a couple of months. It's a big disappointment for him and, as a result, for us.
“This was for me a reckless challenge. I've said a lot about the the tackle of Xavi Simons, which for me was completely unintentional. I don't think you will ever get an injury out of a tackle like that.
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“The tackle of Van de Ven - if you make that tackle 10 times - I think 10 times there is a serious chance that a player gets a serious injury.”
Isak has since undergone surgery on the injury and will now begin the long road to recovery. The injury will certainly rule him out of action over the next couple of months for Liverpool and Isak now faces a race against time to be fit for Sweden’s crucial World Cup qualifying matches in March.
Sweden finished bottom of their World Cup qualifying group as Isak went scoreless during that qualifying campaign having struggled for match fitness for much of the campaign. On top of Isak’s injury issues, the reigning Premier League champions have a number of concerns to deal with ahead of their clash with Wolves at the weekend with Joe Gomez and Wataru Endo also sidelined through injury.
There are also doubts surrounding the fitness of Conor Bradley and Cody Gakpo with Slot having just 14 fit outfield players to pick from when his side host Wolves at Anfield on Saturday afternoon (3pm kick-off).
"Most of the injuries we have are not due to overloading, if you look at Isak and same with Wata [Endo],” Slot continued. “But one or two might be due to overloading - Cody Gakpo with his muscle injury and Joe Gomez.”