Isak set to make Premier League debut for Liverpool in Merseyside derby

Alexander Isak is in line to make his Premier League debut for Liverpool in the Merseyside Derby – but the £125million man has been ‘feeling his body more than ever’ according to boss Arne Slot.

Because of this, the boss has given his league leaders a lie-in on Friday and the squad will train in the later-than-usual mid-afternoon slot after a gruelling 3-2 win over Atletico Madrid on Wednesday night, which ended less than 72 hours before they host Everton.

Sleep is often cited as the best source of recovery for athletes – and all humans – and Slot has adhered to that as his team look to navigate a gruelling week in which they played at Burnley on Sunday, a tight Champions League match on Wednesday and then a tense derby on Saturday.

But Isak is OK and Slot said: ‘I don’t think I tell the media a lot the day before the game how we (are going to) start. We had recovery sessions yesterday and let’s see how they all feel. Alex did feel his body more than ever before after the 60 minutes he played.

‘Let’s see how he has recovered today. We’re going to think about the line-up more today. We gave them a little bit of extra time to recover and one of the best ways to recover is sleep, as we all know. We had to play this week three times.’

Isak looked sharp on his debut and combined well with fellow big-money signing Florian Wirtz, the £116m addition. The Swede, though, tired towards the end of his hour on the pitch and was substituted by Hugo Ekitike. The pair will compete for the No 9 spot in the Merseyside Derby.

Slot, who was shown a red card in last year’s away fixture against Everton and given a touchline ban, says he has a huge amount of respect for Liverpool’s city rivals after the way they were respectful during the tragic loss of striker Diogo Jota in July.

‘(Everton are) a good team, indeed there is rivalry but what I also like and I want to emphasise is what they did when Diogo passed away, being there and showing their respect,’ he said. ‘In these moments it is so nice to see that rivalry is still there but respect.

‘So we are looking forward to this game because every Anfield game is special but this derby is even more special. There is rivalry, both fans are passionate, but they can respect each other.

‘When we arrived at Newcastle (last month), I saw 10 Liverpool shirts and they were standing in between the Newcastle fans I saw... this is impossible in Holland.

‘So that is something really special you have here and I hope you can keep this here for many years. If Ajax plays at (Slot’s former club) Feyenoord, away fans are not allowed any more.

‘So that tells you how terrible that situation is. And it makes it much nicer if both fans are there and that is going to continue tomorrow and I hope that is always the case for as long as football is played in England.’