Topics: Liverpool, Alexander Isak, Premier League, Newcastle United
Liverpool are using a new tool which helps them make decisions in regards to substitutions - with Alexander Isak already impacted by it.
Isak signed from Newcastle in a British-record £125 million transfer on transfer deadline day in a deal which sent shockwaves throughout the rest of the league.
However, the Swede has struggled in his early days at Anfield - scoring just one goal in six appearances for the Premier League champions - who have lost their last three games in all competitions.
He has been largely anonymous and ineffective up top for the Reds, failing to have a single shot on target in the Premier League in games against Everton, Crystal Palace and Chelsea.
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And it's emerged in a detailed report from the Daily Mail, that Isak was actually taken off in the last-gasp Palace loss in a decision driven by artificial intelligence (artificial intelligence).
With six minutes of stoppage time left, he was replaced by Liverpool's 17-year-old wonderkid Rio Ngumoha.
It's said the AI tool used by Liverpool informed coaches about the likelihood of Isak, placed on a specialised fitness programme to get up to speed, picking up an injury.
The algorithm designed by STATSports, one of the leading data providers in the football industry, measures step balance and concluded that Isak was "out of step".
Isak has not looked anything like the sharpshooter fans were accustomed to seeing at Newcastle but now has a huge next test against Manchester United at Anfield on Sunday afternoon.
According to Arne Slot, Isak is now at full fitness and needs to start doing the business for his side as they look to get back to winning ways after a wretched run.
"I think I have said many times we have signed him for six years so if we want him somewhere we have to go through this period of playing him where ideally you would use him earlier in a friendly match than a Premier League game or a Champions League game," Slot said in a press conference.
"But there is no time in In the midst of the season for a friendly match, we had to build him up playing Premier League matches and I believe you have to be at your best to make a difference at this level.
"You can play at this level if you are perhaps 80 or 90 or 95 per cent but if you want to make a difference at the highest level of football, because that is what the Premier League is, then you need to be 100 per cent. It applies to every player and I think I can confidently say he is 100% now.
"[I want to see] goals. That is the simplest thing but to be the leader in pressing from our front three, there we can improve as well, that is something he needs to do but Hugo Ekitike the same."
Liverpool can return to second in the Premier League with a win at Anfield after losing their last two fixtures in the competition.
