Alexander Isak is set to miss Liverpool’s Premier League clash with Aston Villa on Saturday with a groin issue likely to rule him out of a third game in a row.

Isak, 26, has endured a slow start to life on Merseyside following his £130million move from Newcastle United.

Having had no pre-season campaign as a result of that protracted transfer saga, the Sweden international has struggled to rediscover match sharpness, unable to replicate the form that made him one of the league’s most feared strikers on Tyneside.

Isak was taken off at half-time in Liverpool’s 5-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League last Wednesday – Liverpool’s only victory in their last seven games.

The groin injury ruled him out of last weekend’s defeat at Brentford, also missing the Carabao Cup defeat to Crystal Palace midweek with Slot confirming on Friday morning he is ’99.9 per cent likely’ to miss the visit of Villa on Saturday night.

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