Isak's troubles are perfectly reflected by Reds' bleak run

ANDY DUNN'S BIG-MATCH VERDICT

- 

WITH just over 20 minutes of regulation time remaining, £165million worth of talent sat down and put its coat on.

If Anfield wanted a snapshot of Liverpool's early-season troubles, then they need not have looked any further than the sight of Alexander Isak and Milos Kerkez walking to the dugout, their team stumbling to a sixth Premier League defeat of the season. Not just a sixth Premier League defeat but a serious beating, a hammering at the hands of a quite wonderful Nottingham Forest.

Liverpool's expensive summer is threatening to bring a bleak winter.

And while it is grossly unfair to single out one of Arne Slot's players for criticism - they were all woefully under par - Isak's record-breaking price tag means it is inevitable the Swedish striker will come under negative scrutiny.

Slot has frequently referred to the physical condition of Isak, suggesting before kickoff that his £125m striker - who chose to miss Newcastle United's preseason programme - was still not as fit as the Liverpool manager and staff would like.

Considering December is on the doorstep, that is an odd state of affairs. But judging by Isak's exertions in this contest, that suggestion seemed to be on the money.