Nine minutes, two goals
Alexander Isak had scored twice in a match for Liverpool before. Never for the club he joined for a British record fee, though, and never this early. Both of his goals against Ipswich Town on Friday night were on the board inside nine minutes.
No Liverpool player had managed two that quickly in a Premier League game since Maxi Rodriguez against Fulham in May 2011, and the Argentine needed until the seventh minute for his second. Friday was also the first time Isak had scored twice in a single match in any competition since arriving at Anfield.
His first season was a slog. A broken leg took a chunk of 2025-26 away from him, the goals never came in the volume the price tag demanded, and rival supporters enjoyed every minute of it. Big transfers rarely get patience. He got none.
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The shots have changed shape
Opta’s numbers, published on Monday morning, point to something more durable than a good night against a promoted side. The average expected goals value of an Isak shot has climbed from 0.16 last season to 0.25 this term.
That is the difference between hopeful efforts from the edge and chances a striker of his standing is supposed to bury. He is arriving in better positions, and the output has followed: three games into the campaign he has already matched his entire league goal tally from 2025-26.
Gakpo, and the ceiling
Cody Gakpo assisted both goals. That combination is worth watching, and not only because Gakpo was linked with an exit all summer before staying. The last time a player set up two goals for the same teammate in a single Premier League match was April 1998, when Leicester’s Steve Guppy twice found Emile Heskey against Derby, the first inside eight minutes.
Nobody is putting Liverpool back in the title conversation after last season. Their squad still has holes and the results have already been uneven. But a functioning Isak raises what this team can reach, and for the first time since he signed, the evidence is on the pitch rather than in the projections.
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