You could make a strong case that this year’s Carabao Cup final will see Europe’s most threatening striker come up against its strongest centre-back.
Alexander Isak has scored 22 goals in all competitions this season as he looks to surpass a career-best tally of 25, achieved in 2023-24. If he wants to add to that total on Sunday, he will likely need to get the better of Liverpool’s imperious captain, Virgil van Dijk.
But for some tightness in his groin, Isak could have got in some further practice against Van Dijk in last month’s Premier League match at Anfield — a game in which Newcastle were comfortably beaten after failing to register a single shot on target.
Even without Isak in the side that night, Van Dijk made sure to give the Sweden international the praise he deserved before their impending battle at Wembley.
“A final is always different and we’re very wary of the threat they possess,” Van Dijk said after his side’s 2-0 win on February 26. “We know Isak is definitely the most in-form striker at the moment in world football, so you know when he’s back that will give them a boost.”
On the one hand, the broad statistics help us draw a simple conclusion about the pair’s previous battles. Liverpool have won four and drawn one of the games in which Van Dijk and Isak have both started for their respective sides.
However, to say the Dutch international has had things his own way across those five games would only be telling half the story.
Isak has scored three and assisted one of the seven goals Newcastle have managed when facing Liverpool in that time. Only Arsenal’s Gabriel Martinelli and Brighton & Hove Albion’s Solly March (both five) have more combined goals and assists against Liverpool since the start of 2022-23 — with neither being centre-forwards aiming to lock horns with Liverpool’s centre-backs.
Put simply, Isak has caused Liverpool’s captain issues every time the pair have shared the same turf. So what can we expect on Sunday?
Given Isak has a tendency to drift to the left side of Newcastle’s attack, it may be that Liverpool’s Ibrahima Konate is the man who should be more aware of the 25-year-old’s threat.
Not including last season’s game, when Van Dijk was sent off — don’t worry, we’ll get to that — you can see Isak’s tendency to pull away from the Dutchman’s side in his early matches, before going toe-to-toe in his last two games against Liverpool.
There are not too many strikers who can match Van Dijk’s physical attributes in terms of pace, power, and height, and there are signs the 33-year-old plays slightly differently against Isak for that reason.
Van Dijk does not typically seek out defensive work for himself, but in each game they have played, there is a greater inclination to get touch-tight to Isak to nullify any threat before it really develops — whether that be close to his own penalty area or pushing high to follow Isak’s deeper runs.
With Isak pulling into those wider left channels in Newcastle’s attack, there are even occasions of Van Dijk being willing to drift out of position — running across his own centre-back — to follow the Sweden international rather than pass him onto a team-mate.
Such is the threat he offers that Isak has the ability to drag Van Dijk into areas he does not want to be in.
Liverpool’s captain sees it as something of an insult if he is ever asked to put the afterburners on and engage in a sprint, but he was forced to match Isak’s speed and pull across to the far touchline to engage during their most recent meeting at St James’ Park.
Not many centre-forwards go up against Van Dijk in a one-on-one battle and come out the other side with the ball at their feet, but Isak managed to pull ahead of the defender, which acted as a warning sign within the opening 15 minutes of December’s match.
Isak had clearly spooked Van Dijk with his movement and it was only 20 minutes later that he punished some uncharacteristically confused defending with an incredible finish.
Stationed between Liverpool’s centre-backs, Isak received a punched ball from Bruno Guimaraes with his left foot. Note that Newcastle’s No 14 is not in the eyeline of Van Dijk, forcing the Dutchman to swivel his body quickly when the pass is made — meaning there is a period when he is not looking at the man or ball as he looks to regain his orientation (see frame 2 below).
As the old football adage goes, when a striker can see the defender’s number, they know they have beaten them. Isak’s shot from distance is sublime, but the movement and speed of action are what turn Van Dijk inside out to create separation.
Playing on the last line is a particularly strong part of Isak’s game. He tends to start in an offside position before dropping back onside just as the opposition back line drops.
Much like an old-school No 9, Isak will place himself between the centre-backs to avoid being marked and attack the space in behind following a team-mate’s through ball. This can be seen from the two teams’ meeting in December…
… but it is a sequence that has proven lucrative for Isak against Liverpool’s back line.
In their game at Anfield last season, it was a similar sequence that featured Anthony Gordon cutting inside from the touchline before playing a purposeful slide pass behind the Liverpool defensive line. Isak barely needed to break stride as he ran between the centre-backs to finish beyond Alisson.
Earlier that season, it was an identical sequence that led to Van Dijk’s dismissal at St James’ Park. Gordon comes inside, Isak is placed between the centre-backs and a through ball enables Newcastle’s forward to race away.
If not for Van Dijk’s swipe at Isak in which he took man then ball, you would have likely seen another coolly taken finish from Isak. Had it been another, less-threatening Premier League striker, you could be confident Van Dijk would have simply ushered his man away from goal without making a challenge.
Newcastle’s injury and suspension issues mean Eddie Howe’s side will not be at full strength at Wembley — particularly down their left side — but they will provide a physical battle with their typical energy across the pitch.
Liverpool are the only ever-present Premier League side Howe has failed to beat in any competition since taking charge of Newcastle in November 2021, but any team with Isak has a fighting chance.
Crucially, if any striker could be named as Van Dijk’s kryptonite in recent years, it would be Isak.
(Top photo: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
