Alexander Isak Injury Concern Grows as Bradley Barcola Delivers Liverpool Breakthrough

Liverpool finally got a return that looked worthy of a nine-figure outlay. Bradley Barcola’s Champions League hat-trick against LASK was emphatic, timely and badly needed. More to the point, it felt like the first genuinely weighty statement from Liverpool’s expensive attacking rebuild.

Alexander Isak had started the season well before his latest injury setback. Florian Wirtz has shown flashes without fully taking hold of games. Barcola, though, produced the kind of night that cuts through the noise. Three goals, a proper European headline, and a reminder that top-end talent eventually has to deliver more than promise.

That said, one big night for Barcola does not solve Liverpool’s broader issue. The concern remains availability, especially around Isak and Hugo Ekitike. Talent has never been the argument. Fitness is.

With Liverpool heading to Brentford, Andoni Iraola has decisions to make. Isak has missed the last two matches after being available for the opening seven of the campaign. Given the way Liverpool attacked in Austria, it is fair to assume he would have fancied his chances of scoring had he been involved. Iraola has suggested there is a possibility the striker could return this weekend, but that still feels uncertain rather than imminent.

Alexander Isak fitness remains central issue

The problem with Isak is obvious. When he plays, he scores and lifts the attack. When he does not, the discussion immediately turns to whether Liverpool can trust his body over the length of a season. That is not unfair, it is the reality of his career so far.

The warning has now been laid out bluntly by Graeme Souness: “I mean the players they brought in have not really performed to the levels they would want.” That is harsh on Barcola after his hat-trick and arguably premature on Wirtz, but it gets to the larger point. Expensive forwards are judged over months, not moments.

On Isak and Ekitike, the verdict was even sharper: “Isak is fragile, but they knew that when they bought him, Ekitike is fragile and if they continue being like that then they’ve got problems.

“They are goal scorers, you know Isak can score goals in the Premier League and he will get goals for them, but how many games will they play in a season? Wirtz is yet to really, really get going.”

That is hard to dismiss. Ekitike is still recovering from the Achilles rupture suffered in April and is not expected back for a couple of months. Liverpool therefore have two high-level forwards with clear medical question marks attached. If that pattern continues, the squad planning starts to look risky rather than bold.

Bradley Barcola gives Liverpool a timely lift

Barcola’s treble matters because it changes the conversation, at least briefly. Before Wednesday, most of the scrutiny had fallen on Wirtz, partly because Isak has been unavailable and partly because big fees always demand immediate impact. Barcola now has his defining early-season moment.

Liverpool needed that. A front line built at massive cost cannot spend all season waiting for everyone to be fit at once. Someone has to seize games. Against LASK, Barcola did exactly that.

There is still work to do. One hat-trick does not prove the attacking unit is settled, and it does not answer the question of how Liverpool function when Isak and Ekitike are missing. It does, however, provide a glimpse of what this side can look like when one of the expensive additions truly clicks.

Andoni Iraola wants intensity without excuses

Iraola has also been backed for the clarity of his messaging. “I have to say, I like the manager,” came the assessment. “Because I lived down in Poole I used to go down and watch Bournemouth. He plays front-footed football, likeable guy when you hear him speak, it’s all common sense which is a rarity these days, rather than all the gobbledygook which coaches and managers spout.

“I like him, so I’m hoping so [that Liverpool can get back to their best], because he seems to be a good guy. I just feel when I look at Liverpool that maybe the midfield is not as good at doing the hard yards, the hard yards in football are when you don’t have the ball, and it makes the back four vulnerable.

“People talk about the back four but sometimes it’s the people in front who are not closing the ball down properly all of the time. If there’s five of you doing it, five have to do it. If four do it and one of you goes to sleep, you’ll be vulnerable.”

That assessment is straightforward and accurate. Liverpool’s issues are not limited to injured forwards. Defensive exposure often starts higher up the pitch. Iraola’s teams are built on pressure, work and collective responsibility. If one player switches off, the system breaks.

Barcola gave Liverpool a headline in Europe. Brentford away will be a different test. The bigger questions, around Alexander Isak, Hugo Ekitike and whether this team can sustain intensity, remain unanswered.