Liverpool head coach Arne Slot said his side are beginning to show signs of progress after a chaotic 2-1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday, though the win was overshadowed by a potentially serious injury to record signing Alexander Isak.

The £125 million striker opened the scoring with his second league goal for the club after coming on at half-time, but his afternoon was cut short in concerning fashion. Isak was injured when his foot became trapped between the legs of Micky van de Ven as the Tottenham defender lunged to block his shot.

After spending several minutes on the turf, Isak eventually limped off with the assistance of two members of Liverpool’s medical staff. Slot admitted he feared the worst, despite having no official diagnosis to share.

“I don’t have any news on him yet, but if a player scores, then gets injured, doesn’t come back on and doesn’t even try to return, that’s usually not a good sign,” Slot told reporters. “That’s just a gut feeling — there’s nothing medical I can say at this point.”

Liverpool also suffered another setback when Conor Bradley’s return to the starting line-up lasted just 45 minutes. The defender was forced off after a collision with Djed Spence and did not reappear for the second half, with Isak briefly taking his place before his own injury.

The visitors appeared to have secured the points when Hugo Ekitike doubled their advantage, but substitute Richarlison set up a nervous finale by pulling a goal back for Spurs in the 83rd minute. Tottenham were already down to 10 men following Xavi Simons’ first-half red card, and their situation worsened in stoppage time when captain Cristian Romero was sent off for a second bookable offence after kicking out at Ibrahima Konaté.

Despite their numerical advantage, Liverpool were forced to rely on goalkeeper Alisson to preserve the win, as Spurs continued to push late on.

Slot insisted that the Reds are moving in the right direction after a turbulent summer that contributed to a poor run of form, noting that they are now unbeaten in six matches across all competitions.

“We made so many changes in the summer that it was always going to take time,” Slot said. “Maybe because we won the first five or six games, people thought it would be easy. I don’t think it was ever as bad as people said, but it’s also true that we’re not perfect yet.”

However, the Dutchman conceded that his side’s fragility after conceding and their struggles against nine-man opposition would be a concern.

“It wasn’t perfect today, especially in the last 10 minutes,” he added. “At times it looked like we had nine players and they had 11 because it was attack after attack. But we’re picking up points, and I can see the team developing the way I want.”