Alexander Isak Shines in Liverpool's Premier League Victory
Alexander Isak walked into Suffolk on Friday night as Liverpool’s £125m question mark. He left as the striker who finally turned up.
Two ruthless finishes inside nine breathless minutes buried Ipswich Town and carried Liverpool to a 2-0 win, their first Premier League victory of the season and Andoni Iraola’s first since replacing the sacked Arne Slot. The scoreline was tidy. The story behind it was anything but.
Isak, at last
Context matters. Ipswich are brave, ambitious, newly promoted – and wide open. They conceded five at Manchester United last weekend and again looked vulnerable against serious attacking quality. Liverpool provided exactly that, with Isak at the sharp end.
This was the version of the Sweden forward Liverpool thought they were signing when they smashed, at the time, the British transfer record to wrench him away from Newcastle United in a bitter saga last summer. Direct. Aggressive. Cold in front of goal.
For most of last season, he was the opposite.
He arrived on Merseyside out of shape after effectively downing tools to force his move from Tyneside. Injuries followed. So did doubt. Instead of the crown jewel, he looked like the most expensive vanity purchase in British football history, drifting through games as Liverpool’s title defence collapsed and Slot’s reign unravelled.
The numbers were brutal. Twenty-two appearances, 1,033 minutes, four goals – one every 258 minutes. In the league, 14 games, 703 minutes, three goals at a rate of one every 234 minutes. Hugo Ekitike, his fellow striker, outshone him with ease as Liverpool’s season fell apart.
This, finally, was different.
Isak has already matched last season’s Premier League goal tally, but it was his body language as much as his finishing that will have encouraged Iraola. He looked lighter. Sharper. Engaged. The sulk of last year replaced by a striker who actually wanted to hurt defenders.
Liverpool used him properly too. They pushed him high, let him run in behind, and asked him to press with real speed. That was the Isak Newcastle built their attack around. That was the Isak missing in action for almost all of his first year at Anfield.
Gakpo’s reminder
He did not do it alone. Cody Gakpo stitched the performance together with a display that underlined just how close Liverpool came to losing him.
Had a move not fallen apart, Gakpo could have been back in the north west this weekend, preparing for Manchester City’s game against Coventry City at Etihad Stadium instead of dictating Liverpool’s attacking rhythm in Suffolk. On this evidence, Iraola will be quietly grateful the paperwork never went through.
Gakpo floated between the lines, linked midfield to attack and repeatedly dragged Ipswich’s back line out of shape, creating the spaces Isak craved. When Liverpool broke, he was the brain; when they needed control, he offered it. It was a virtuoso performance without the need for a goal to underline it.
Barcola’s burst – and the bigger picture
Even a £123m debutant struggled to steal the spotlight. Bradley Barcola only had 26 minutes after coming off the bench, but that was enough to hint at why Liverpool moved for him from Paris St-Germain. His pace ripped through tired legs, his direct running adding another layer of menace to an already dominant side.
For Iraola, it ticked every box. A clean sheet. A first league win. His marquee striker finally looking like himself. A major attacking signing showing glimpses of devastating speed. And the reassurance that Gakpo, almost lost to another superclub, can still be the glue in this evolving Liverpool frontline.
Yes, it was only Ipswich. A newly promoted side, twice exposed in a week by elite opposition. But on a night Liverpool needed more than just three points, they found something far more valuable: a version of Alexander Isak that looks ready to justify the fee and rewrite the story of his time at Anfield.
If this is the new normal, the rest of the league has just been given an uncomfortable early warning.
