Liverpool’s Dominik Szoboszlai has impressed the fans in the little time he has spent with the club this season, and the Hungarian is sitting top of the Premier League charts in one intruiging statistic.
Ever since signing on the dotted line for Liverpool, fans have had high expectations for the club’s new number eight; he’s an international captain at the young age of 22, his ability on a dead ball is world-class and his distance shooting is next-level.
His performance against Bournemouth on Saturday afternoon justified fans’ excitement, with the midfielder demonstrating that he’s going to be an extremely useful creative outlet this season.
Not only did he win the penalty that Mohamed Salah eventually scored to give Liverpool the lead, but his deflected shot from range was parried into Diogo Jota’s path late in the second half to put the Reds 3-1 up.
This performance naturally meant that the Hungarian was a hot favourite for Man of the Match, with more than 12,000 Anfield Watch followers voting him as the stand-out player.
Szoboszlai blatantly passes the coveted eye test for fans, but his exceptional performances are also being backed up by stats.
As reported by Bence Bocsák, no midfielder has made more carries (four) into the opposition’s penalty area than Dominik Szoboszlai in the Premier League’s first two rounds so far this season – one of which resulting in the penalty that he won against Bournemouth.
Liverpool supporters will be ecstatic to find out that one of the club’s midfielders is leading the way in an attacking statistic, especially after years of watching a midfield that – while still an incredibly important cog in the Jurgen Klopp system – wasn’t tasked with contributing in an attacking sense as a main priority.
Despite starting in a slightly more advanced role and breaking the lines magnificently, Alexis Mac Allister’s controversial second-half red card meant that the base of Liverpool’s midfield was left exposed and Szoboszlai had to pick up some of the slack.
With the Reds short on numbers, the midfielder was able to show that he isn’t just a creative player, but he can also do the less glamorous stuff exceptionally well.
He acted as an ever-present outlet to Liverpool’s centre-backs, he was always available for a pass, he was excellent in tight spaces and he didn’t stop pressing all game.
All of that was in addition to the gut-wrenching runs he made into the box from deep and his silky dribbling style that had Bournemouth’s defenders dumfounded.
Jurgen Klopp will be delighted that he has added Szoboszlai to his squad this season, and the Hungarian will be hoping to move from strength to strength.
