Steve McManaman’s ‘only concern’ despite Liverpool thumping Frankfurt 5-1 in the Champions League

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Liverpool managed to get a huge win over the line in a 5-1 Champions League thumping of Eintracht Frankfurt on Tuesday, a victory that put an end to their poor run of form. But Steve McManaman has named a concern that he spotted on a pleasing night in Germany.

Liverpool went 1-0 down to Frankfurt, sparking fears of losing a fifth game in a row in all competitions, having lost to Crystal Palace, Galatasaray, Chelsea and Manchester United over the course of the last 25 days.

However, a 5-1 win in Germany, including three goals in nine first-half minutes to completely turn the game around, has Liverpool within just two goals of the top eight of the Champions League’s newfound ‘league phase’ table.

But Liverpool legend Steve McManaman has shared one doubt he had during their needed win, stating that the injuries afforded to Jeremie Frimpong and Alexander Isak could pose further problems down the line when it comes to availability.

Steve McManaman airs Liverpool worry over fitness issues of Jeremie Frimpong and Alexander Isak

Arne Slot will be mightily impressed that his side managed to turn the tie around, halting their poor run of form, and that should carry into the weekend’s Premier League game against Brentford.

However, they will seemingly be without Jeremie Frimpong, who picked up a hamstring injury after just 19 minutes of the clash.

The diminutive wing-back has struggled for a consistent run of minutes this season. Frimpong signed for Liverpool from Bayer Leverkusen for £29.5million over the summer, but just one Premier League start means other players have been used.

And further issues over Isak’s availability did raise the only concern on the night for Liverpool legend McManaman.

He said on live coverage of TNT Sports’ Goal Show: “The only concern was Frimpong going off with a hamstring injury, and Alexander Isak being substituted at halftime.

“You hope both are precautionary, because you don’t want to lose any more players. Tactically, taking someone off after 45 minutes does feel a bit early, but we’ll have to wait to see what Ali and Adam Fletcher say.

“It’s not like a month ago, when you had to protect players more carefully. This wasn’t a particularly difficult game, especially in the second half, so Frimpong could potentially have stayed on if it were purely a fitness issue.

“Frimpong needs to focus on performing consistently, and Alexander Isak also needs to build fitness without setbacks.”

With Alexander Isak costing Liverpool £125million from Newcastle, that will be a matter of urgency for Arne Slot after falling behind in the Premier League title race.

Arne Slot admits Liverpool star Alexander Isak was subbed due to discomfort

Liverpool fans will have been aware that Isak wasn’t fit enough to play the entire game against Frankfurt on Wednesday, but they may not have expected him to have come off at half-time.

And that is because Arne Slot has now admitted that the Swedish international was taken off as a result of a groin injury, feeling discomfort with the Reds 3-1 up at the interval.

“Alexander Isak had to be subbed off due to discomfort he felt in his groin”.

“Let’s hope it’s not too bad. It’s such a difficult balance to find with a player that missed three months.”

It’s not the only problem the 26-year-old has had at Liverpool. Earlier in the week, Gabriel Agbonlahor claimed that Alexander Isak and Mohamed Salah have not shown a working relationship on the pitch, and they didn’t get the chance to prove that wrong in Germany as Isak was hauled off early.

And although Liverpool have been warned they’ll need patience over Isak, it’s tough to see just when he’ll get his big break in the first-team on a regular basis.