You might be a robust case that this yr's Carabao Cup final in Europe will come against the strongest central defender in Europe.
Alexander Isak scored 22 goals in all competitions this season because he would really like to exceed a profession of 25, which was achieved in 2023-24. If he wants so as to add this total on Sunday, he’ll probably have to attain the higher the Imperius captain of Liverpool, Virgil van Dijk.
But for a certain tightness in his groin area, Isak within the Premier League game last month in Anfield could have received further training against van Dijk within the further training – a game by which Newcastle was conveniently beaten after not registering a single shot on the finish.
Even without Isak on the side that night, van Dijk made sure to offer the Swedish international the praise he deserved before her upcoming fight in Wembley.
“A finale is always different and we are very careful with the threat you own,” said Van Dijk after his team's 2-0 victory on February twenty sixth.
On the one hand, the broad statistics help us to attract a straightforward conclusion in regards to the couple's earlier battles. Liverpool won 4 and pulled one in every of the games by which Van Dijk and Isak each began their respective pages.
To say that the Dutch international in these five games had things in these five games, but would only tell half of the story.
Isak has scored three and supported one in every of the seven goals that Newcastle did with Liverpool during this time. Only Arsenals Gabriel Martinelli and Brighton & Hove Albions Solly March (each five) have had combined goals and templates against Liverpool Weders for the reason that starting of 2022-23 to dam horns with Liverpool's central defenders.
Simply put, Isak caused Liverpool's captain problems each time the couple shared the identical lawn. So what can we expect on Sunday?
In view of the tendency that Isak drifts to the left of Newcastle's attack, it would be the man who’s more aware of the specter of the 25-year-old.
If van Dijk has not been sent last season-no worry, we are going to achieve it-you can see Isak's tendency to withdraw from the Side of the Dutch in his early games before going against toe-to-toe in his last two games against Liverpool.
There should not too many strikers who can sustain with the speed, power and size with Van Dijk's physical properties, and there are signs that the 33-year-old plays slightly in another way against Isak because of this.
Van Dijk is frequently not in search of a defensive work for herself, but in every game you played there may be a greater tendency to make ISAK touched so as to illustrate a threat before you actually develop-regardless of whether it’s positioned near his own penalty area or is high to follow Isak's deeper runs.
After Isak in Newcastle was stimulated in the opposite left channels in Newcastle, there are even opportunities that Van Dijk is able to run from the position of drifting over his own central defender to follow the Swedish international as an alternative of handing it over to a teammate.
This is the threat he offers that Isak has the flexibility to tug Van Dijk into areas by which he doesn’t need to be.
The captain of Liverpool sees it as an insult if he’s ever asked to take up the afterburners and operate a sprint, but he needed to adapt Isak's speed and run over the distant touchline to get entangled in St. James' Park during her last meeting.
Not many middle strikers compete against van Dijk in a single fight and are available to feet on the opposite side with the ball, but Isak managed to tug the defender in front of the defender, which acted as a warning sign throughout the first quarter-hour after the sport of December.
Isak had clearly frightened Van Dijk together with his movement, and it was only 20 minutes later that he punished some unusually confused defense with an incredible finish.
Isak stationed between Liverpool's central defenders and received a beaten ball from Bruno Guimaraes together with his left foot. Note that Newcastles No. 14 is just not in the attention leather of Van Dijk and forces the Dutch to quickly swirl his body when the passport is made – which suggests that there’s a time when he doesn’t take a look at the person or the ball because he desires to regain his orientation (see frame 2 below).
If the old football saying is, he knows that he has hit it when a striker can see the defender's number. Isak's shot from a distance is classy, however the movement and speed of the motion are what Van Dijk has inside out to create separation.
Playing within the last line is a very strong a part of Isak's game. He tends to start out in an offside position before immersing it again when the opposition falls.
Similar to an old-fashioned No. 9, Isak will arise between the central defenders to avoid being marked and attack the room behind a teammate. This could be seen from the meeting of the 2 teams in December …
… however it is a sequence that has proven to be lucrative for Isak against Liverpool's rear line.
In her game at Anfield last season it was an analogous sequence by which Anthony Gordon cut out of the touch line inside before playing a targeted slide pass behind the Liverpool defensive position. Isak hardly had to interrupt a step when he ran between the central defenders to finish beyond Alisson.
At the start of this season it was an analogous sequence that led to Van Dijk's release in St. James' Park. Gordon is available in, Isak is placed between the central defenders, and a through ball enables Newcastle's striker to drive away.
Without Van Dijk's swipe at Isak, by which he took a person's ball, they’d probably have seen one other cool finish from Isak. If it had been one other, less threatening Premier League striker, one might be confident that Van Dijk would have simply led his husband away from the goal without making a challenge.
In Newcastle's injury and suspension problems, Eddie Howe's team is not going to be in full strength – especially on the left – but they shall be price a physical struggle with their typical energy on the sphere.
Liverpool is the one ubiquitous Premier League team that Howe has not assigned to Newcastle in November 2021, but every team with Isak has a struggle likelihood.
It is crucial if a striker might be known as van Dijk cryptonite in recent times, it will be Isak.
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