How Liverpool signing Alexander Isak could impact Mohamed Salah, Hugo Ekitike and the rest of the Reds' star-studded attack

There was a time when playing two up front was commonplace in English football. There was Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp at Arsenal, Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole at Manchester United, while even Niall Quinn and Kevin Phillips did an awful lot of damage together at Sunderland in the classic 'big man, small man' partnership.

Times have changed and the game has evolved, with forward lines more fluid than ever before - as Paris Saint-Germain so effectively illustrated by winning the Champions League with three wingers up front.

However, Liverpool have enjoyed a fair bit of success over the years with dynamic duos (Kevin Keegan & John Toshack, Kenny Dalglish & Ian Rush, Michael Owen & Emile Heskey, Luis Suarez & Daniel Sturridge), so might Slot consider adding Ekitike & Isak to that illustrious list?

BOYLE Sports

Graphic courtesy of BOYLE Sports

As tall, slender, technically-gifted attackers capable of beating opponents with pace and fast feet, Isak and Ekitike are eerily similar players. Indeed, the presumption was that Newcastle wanted Ekitike to replace Isak - and that Liverpool wanted Ekitike as an alternative to Isak.

However, Eddie Howe clearly felt that the two could play together, and Slot does too. The first half of last season probably illustrates why.

Before Omar Marmoush's winter-window move from Eintracht Frankfurt to Manchester City, the Egyptian was tearing up the Bundesliga thanks in no small part to Ekitike. The pair worked wonderfully well in tandem and were directly involved in a combined 51 goals in all competitions. It's not hard, then, to imagine Isak also flourishing alongside Ekitike, who excelled as a lone striker following Marmoush's exit, but openly admits that he loves dropping deeper to pick up possession.

"I mean, I do what the coach asks me to do, but yeah, I like to do everything," the 23-year-old told Liverpool's official website. "I can't define myself only as a striker [who likes] to finish: I like to play, I like to be in the game, in the collective part of play [and] create also.

"So, I can do both – I can play alone and I like to play also with another striker and I think that’s what makes me versatile and you know now in football, you need to adapt."

Of course, playing two up top would have plenty of knock-on effects. Salah could obviously play more as an orthodox right winger - and the same goes for Cody Gakpo on the opposite flank - while Wirtz could remain in his classic trequartista role just behind Isak and Ekitike.

However, that would mean seriously overburdening Ryan Gravenberch at the base of the midfield. Consequently, it seems unlikely that we'll see Isak, Ekitike, Salah, Wirtz and Gakpo on the field at the same time unless Liverpool are chasing a goal in the closing stages of a game against deep-lying opposition.

Indeed, the only way a front two might work would be to have Salah and Wirtz playing as twin-10s in a 'box' midfield - a bit like Kevin De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan at Manchester City - with Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister assuming nearly all of the responsibility for protecting the defence, and the very attack-minded full-backs Milos Kerkez and Jermie Frimpong charged with providing the width.

It would be a risky ploy, though - not least because Wirtz and Salah are struggling in their usual roles right now. The former's issues are easily explicable. 

As Slot has said himself, Wirtz is still getting to grips with the intensity of the Premier League and, as the attacking midfielder proved with his lively second-half display against Arsenal on Sunday, he'll definitely prove his worth at Anfield. 

Salah, of course, can't use unfamiliarity with the physicality of English football as an excuse for his patch performances so far, and his first touch was worryingly poor at the weekend - but the Egyptian king has been here before, and he always bounces back. 

A little patience will clearly be required, so a significant change of role really doesn't make much sense for either player at the minute. Both Wirtz and Salah should be allowed to find their very best form in their preferred positions. 

Consequently, it seems much more probable that Slot will continue with his preferred 4-2-3-1 formation - just with minor tactical tweaks and perhaps more changes in personnel from game to game.

One could easily envisage Ekitike excelling on the left-hand side of a narrow front three, given his propensity for drifting wide anyway. Just like Gakpo, who initially played primarily through the middle after his arrival from PSV, and indeed Isak, Ekitike is a very modern and mobile forward who loves cutting inside onto his favoured right foot, and could regularly interchange with Isak, who is also very comfortable running the channels.

If we know nothing else about Liverpool's data-obsessed recruitment team, it's that they love multi-functional forwards who press well - and Slot certainly won't be able complain about a lack of attractive options in attack once Isak is available for selection. The challenge, of course, will be ensuring that nobody's nose is put out of joint by being asked to play in a different possession or spend more time on the bench than initially anticipated.

Gakpo, for example, won't be best pleased if he's asked to give up his starting spot to accommodate Ekitike, given the Dutchman has already been directly involved in three Premier League goals this season. At the same time, it feels as if that the former Eintracht forward has to play, given his clever link-up play has been almost as impressive as his lethal finishing.

The arrival of Isak certainly isn't good news for Federico Chiesa either. The Italian seemed destined to depart this summer after seeing so little game time last season, but managed to work his way back into Slot's plans as a back-up for Ekitike. He has been brought on in all three of Liverpool's Premier League outings so far and even hit the crucial third goal in the opening-day win over Bournemouth at Anfield.

However, with Isak now on board, it's unlikely that we'll be seeing much of Chiesa through the middle in the closing stages of games anymore.

Truth be told, we might not be seeing very much of him at all, given teenage sensation Rio Ngumoha has emerged as a viable option on the left flank and Slot always seems reluctant to substitute Salah even when he's playing poorly. The latter will, of course, be away for at least three weeks in winter due to Egypt's participation in the Africa Cup of Nations, but it honestly wouldn't be much of a surprise to see the incredibly offensive Frimpong selected on the right wing ahead of Chiesa during Salah's absence.

Obviously, Ngumoha's need for minutes is less pressing than that of Chiesa, who is hoping to earn an Azzurri recall in time for the 2026 World Cup, and the youngster was among the first to celebrate the signing of Isak. However, he's entitled to also feel a little disappointed by the prospect of featuring in fewer Premier League games than he would have expected after making a decisive and historic contribution off the bench in the dramatic 3-2 win at Newcastle on matchday two.

Getting into the team ahead of the in-form Gakpo was going to be tough enough as it was - but the knock-on effect from the Isak deal is that Ngumoha is now also likely to have Ekitike ahead of him in queue to start on the left wing, meaning the former Chelsea ace will have to be content with appearances in the domestic cup competitions.

It's clear, then, that Slot will have to strike more of a balancing act this season - but more regular rotation will be no bad thing. On the contrary, it should aid Liverpool's hopes of not only retaining their English title but also conquering Europe.

During their record-equalling 20th champions success, Slot pretty much relied on the same 13-14 players week-in and week-out - and having such a settled side undoubtedly contributed to the consistency that enabled the Reds to run away with the league. However, it also led to fatigue during the second half of 2024-25 - most notably during the week in which Liverpool were knocked out of the Champions League by Paris Saint-Germain and upset by Isak's Newcastle in the Carabao Cup final.

Indeed, it was clear during that latter defeat at Wembley that Liverpool were missing a prolific No.9. With Isak and Ekitike on board, Slot suddenly has two, creating the kind of welcome selection headache that Howe so desperately wanted.