Last-gasp penalty win can't hide Slot's Salah problem

When Alexander Isak was finally confirmed as a Liverpool player, many supporters from rival title challengers wrote off their team's chances of toppling the champions this season there and then. Even after seeing Liverpool make it four wins from four at Burnley, however, many may be reconsidering such a position.

- PETE HALL

Having broken the British transfer record for one multi-faceted forward in Florian Wirtz and added one of Europe's most exciting attackers in Hugo Ekitike to add to a title-winning, 86-goal strikeforce from last season, Liverpool appeared to be simply satirising the competition when they launched another record bid for Isak.

Did they even need him? Spending £125m on another striker just seemed downright frivolous. Yet, after Liverpool were so listless and unimaginative in attack at Burnley, before Mohamed Salah's most fortunate of get-out-of-jail stoppage-time penalties maintained their winning start to the new campaign, Isak's arrival is in fact out of necessity than frivolity.

For all the myriad of talents in the forward department, what was glaring in the meek Burnley showing was the lack of an attacking focal point.