Will Alexander Isak score 20-plus goals this season? Liverpool legend Ray Houghton makes bold prediction & explains why £125m striker looks different in 2026-27
Questions asked of Isak after four-goal debut season
Premier League heavyweights from Merseyside had high hopes for Isak after making him the most expensive player in British football. They had seen enough across three years at Newcastle to suggest that the languid frontman would be a shrewd addition to their ranks,
The Sweden international did, however, arrive short on fitness following a severely disrupted pre-season. He then suffered a broken leg, with momentum and consistency proving difficult to establish.
With less than a handful of goals to his name, many were quick to question whether Isak was cut out for Liverpool’s fabled No.9 shirt and if he would ever deliver a return on the faith and funds invested in him.
Swedish striker has rediscovered his swagger of late
A brighter start has been enjoyed to the current campaign, with his account being opened in a meeting with Nottingham Forest. A match-winning brace was then recorded in a win over Ipswich, before settling another away day with his solitary strike at Bournemouth.
Isak has already matched his goal tally for the whole of last season, through just seven appearances, and appears to have got the swagger back that briefly deserted him. The challenge now is to maintain impressive individual standards while continuing to aid the collective cause.
Will Isak score more than 20 goals this season?
Asked if he expects Isak to surge beyond the 20-goal mark this term, having achieved that feat on a couple of occasions for Newcastle, ex-Liverpool midfielder Houghton - who was speaking in association with IrishBetting.ie - told GOAL: “I do, yeah.
“It depends on his fitness, but he looks fit, doesn't he? When you watched him last season, compared to this season, there's chalk and cheese between where he is, he's in a much better place at the moment.
“His runs are good, that certainly should suit the players like Bradley [Barcola] or Victor [Munoz], or whoever - if you're a winger and you come in, you can thread little balls in behind the back line because he's got the pace and that's where he wants it. He doesn't want to play at your feet, that's not his strength, coming short and getting involved in the build-up play, you can let Hugo [Ekitike] do that when he comes into the side.
“That's where you really want him, running and stretching the opposition because he wants to play on the shoulders of the last defender. He's timing the runs well, as he showed against Ipswich, he's got another goal against Bournemouth. Why? Because you're in the right position at the right time to finish it off.
“There's a lot of positives for him and I said before he came, when they were talking about bringing him in, he knows the Premier League, he knows what's required and if you get him the right service, he'll score goals.
“It was hard to look at him last season and judge him because of his fitness level when he came in and he picked up the injury against Spurs, and then you're playing catch-up. This season, he went to the World Cup, he got an extra bit of fitness work in with Sweden, he's come back and he looks fit, he looks healthy, he looks like he's enjoying it, he's got a smile on his face. There's a lot of positives there.”
Liverpool remain unbeaten in the 2026-27 campaign
Isak has helped Liverpool to enjoy an unbeaten start to the 2026-27 campaign, through Premier League, Champions League and Carabao Cup competition. There is still the promise of much more to come from the Reds.
If their leading marksman can continue to fire, with Ekitike set to return from injury at some stage, then Andoni Iraola’s first season at the helm could prove to be very productive - potentially with a silver lining in the form of a major trophy at the end of it.
