Isak was missing from the training ground as Slot prepared the players for Tuesday night's top game at home at Anfield. The Swedish international striker was injured against Frankfurt two weeks ago. He started but did not come out for the second half. He has not played a minute since then.
Now Slot comes with positive news. Isak is not ready for Real Madrid. However, he could be in the squad against Manchester City in the league on Sunday.
Wait and see
"We'll have to wait and see with Isak because he's not in training. He definitely won't start, but he might be in the squad on Sunday," Slot said at today's press conference.
Lucas Bergvall is definitely missing from Tottenham and Viktor Gyökeres from Arsenal will also miss Tuesday night's Champions League. Arsenal face Slavia Prague away while Tottenham host FC Copenhagen.
Tottenham manager Thomas Frank confirms at today's press conference that Bergvall has suffered a concussion and will miss the next two matches.
Putting health first
Bergvall was unlucky to take a hard ball to the head after just a few minutes in the derby against Chelsea. Tottenham's medical team recommended Frank to take the midfielder off.
"For everyone who watched the game, it was obvious that he had suffered a concussion," says Frank, thanking the medical team for their actions.
The health of the players is most important.
“Definitely not”
Gyökeres suffered a muscle strain in the first half of the Premier League match against Burnley and was forced off at half-time. Afterwards, he was praised again by manager Mikel Arteta, who rated the striker's first 45 minutes as his best ever in an Arsenal shirt. However, the star will miss Tuesday night's match, Arteta confirmed at the pre-match press conference.
"I'm worried because he hasn't had many muscle problems before. He had to leave the pitch because he felt something, which is never a good sign for a player who is very explosive. We are trying to find out how serious the injury is," Arteta said, continuing:
He is definitely not available (against Slavia Prague). He has not trained today, and we need to do more tests in the coming days to understand the extent of the injury.
An injury crisis risks escalating ahead of Graham Potter's first international matches as national team captain. Less than two weeks before the World Cup qualifier against Switzerland in Geneva, question marks are raised for the trio of Isak, Gyökeres and Bergvall. On Wednesday, Potter will name his first national team squad.
