8/10 Liverpool star just dropped his best game under Slot

Nobody foresaw this. Even essentially the most optimistic of Liverpool supporters would not have dreamed up a world the place Arne Slot basked in an eight-point lead within the Premier League heading into December.

December 1st marks fairly the date: Liverpool host Manchester City within the league as Pep Guardiola seeks to cease the rot that has despatched his season right into a tailspin.

Early days. Early days. Liverpool are champions elect after climbing again to beat Southampton? Extra idiot the fan who’s subscribed to that notion.

There are many twists and turns left as Liverpool transfer via this crooked season, and a Citizen victory by the River Mersey would change the narrative with the swiftness of a Redmen counter-attack.

Liverpool do look good although, it have to be stated. Even when the elements do not mix to essentially the most rip-roaring impact, Slot’s squad nonetheless discover a manner. After all, with Mohamed Salah on the spearhead, such issues are kid’s play.

Mohamed Salah’s talismanic season

Salah’s days on Merseyside may be numbered, however he isn’t letting that have an effect on his performances for Liverpool this season. In reality, the Egyptian sensation is supercharged by a way of urgency that maybe speaks of a person on borrowed time.

That is a downcast thought that will be match for the situations that Slot’s facet confronted on the St. Mary’s Stadium. The factor is, although, it is a workforce with a moveless mindset. Salah’s brace turned the sport on its head and Liverpool at the moment are eight factors clear on the high of the Premier League.

We have met too many false dawns to get excited but – in spite of everything, Manchester Metropolis journey to Anfield subsequent weekend. Salah stated post-match that “hopefully we can beat City,” and he is sure to be assured after his efficiency on the South Coast.

The 32-year-old’s two late objectives negated Southampton’s high quality work in turning the sport on its head, together with his effort now leaving him with ten goals and six assists throughout 12 Premier League matches. Salah’s consistency on English shores is frankly absurd and he’s undisputedly one of many most interesting gamers to have graced the division.

Salah wasn’t the one one to provide an emphatic show although, with Dominik Szoboszlai opening the scoring and placing in a high-class efficiency which may simply depart him undroppable going ahead.

Why Dominik Szoboszlai is now undroppable

Admittedly, Szoboszlai may be irritating to look at typically. Do extra, we cry. Please, channel that power and electrical energy into one thing prolific and potent and all the remaining.

His “elegant” end in opposition to Southampton, as Sky Sports activities’ Jamie Carragher put it, proved that he can produce these moments of real high quality to light up his identify on the large board, however it’s maybe necessary to dig deeper into the underlying information and perceive that the attacking midfielder is quietly turning into considered one of Liverpool’s most necessary gamers.

Having been benched in two of the earlier three top-flight outings, this was a welcome return to type and one thing that the Hungary captain will really feel he can use as a springboard to extra constructive noise.

Journalist Bence Bocsak hailed the 23-year-old’s “sensible efficiency” and rightly so. As per Sofascore, he notably accomplished 100% (2/2) of his dribbles, made three key passes and received six of his eight contested floor duels.

That duel success is especially fascinating, a step up from his marketing campaign average of 2.2 per game. It is the tactical dimension that will communicate volumes to Slot, proving to him that Szoboszlai is deserving of an unmoving beginning berth in Liverpool’s Premier League line-up.

He additionally made 4 tackles, 4 ball recoveries, and accomplished all 4 of his lengthy balls, showcasing a technical vary that certainly compelled Jurgen Klopp and Jorg Schmadtke to fork out £60m for the RB Leipzig talent’s transfer within the canine days of 2023.

The Liverpool Echo’s Ian Doyle awarded Szoboszlai with an 8/10 match rating – the identical as Salah – and wrote: ‘Led the Liverpool press, used ball effectively, had some photographs and curled in a high quality end for the opening aim. Power and work-rate made such a distinction.’

It is necessary to notice that Szoboszlai’s athleticism may very well be a decisive issue in opposition to Guardiola’s beleaguered outfit subsequent week, with Tottenham Hotspur’s Dejan Kulusevski – a participant of equally indefatigable power and highly effective dribbling – working roughshod over the Sky Blues’ defences on Saturday.

The Swede claimed an help however extra importantly, succeeded with all 4 of his dribbles and received every of his six contested floor duels, as per Sofascore, which pertains to Szoboszlai’s potential continuation of type subsequent weekend given he has the standard, and demonstrated as such in opposition to Saints, to undertake that blueprint.

Szoboszlai’s ball-carrying and -playing expertise have been discernible from the get-go at Anfield, however fluency in essential moments has been uneven throughout the previous 15 months.

To make certain, there’s extra within the attacking midfielder’s locker, but when he performs as he did in opposition to Southampton going ahead, there is not any manner that Slot will wish to demote him to the bench, for his power and impression on the opposite forwards is so necessary.

Salah, for instance, is a unprecedented ahead, however his life is made simpler by Szoboszlai’s actions and they are going to be known as into play as soon as once more subsequent.

Liverpool are flying, however there’s a lot soccer nonetheless to be performed. The standard of a participant like Szoboszlai ensures that even when not flourishing, three factors can nonetheless be secured.

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