£120k p/w Liverpool Ace Must Build on ‘Relentless’ Display vs Bologna

Liverpool’s positive start to their Champions League campaign continued, as Arne Slot’s side eased past Bologna 2-0 at Anfield. The north-west outfit were fluid offensively in parts, although they lacked a cutting edge at times, wasting several promising opportunities to carve open the travelling team.

Emerging from the dressing room in rampant fashion, the Reds started quickly and took the lead after 11 minutes when Alexis Mac Allister tapped home a beautifully weighted cross from Mohamed Salah. Despite some dangerous moments from Dan Ndoye and Riccardo Orsolini threatening Liverpool’s lead, the Merseysiders put the Serie A side out of sight 15 minutes from time, when Salah curled a spectacular effort beyond the outstretched Lukasz Skorupski.

The result leaves Liverpool 5th in the Champions League table, with tricky encounters against German sides RB Leipzig and Bayer Leverkusen to come in their next two fixtures. One man who has been praised for the home team’s ability to control the game and press Bologna into giving the ball away on numerous occasions is Dominik Szoboszlai, with journalist David Lynch describing the midfielder’s performance as ‘relentless’.

A staple of Slot’s side since the Dutchman arrived at the club this summer, Szoboszlai lacked the quality in his execution in high-leverage moments in the final third, although he worked exceptionally hard defensively, and the stats reflected this. The Hungarian produced a workmanlike display at Anfield on the night.

Szoboszlai vs Bologna in Numbers

He won five ground duels

Having started all six of Liverpool’s Premier League matches this season, Slot evidently trusts Szoboszlai, and favours him over the likes of Curtis Jones and Wataru Endo, despite facing criticism for some of his performances at the back end of last season.

The creative midfielder played 73 minutes against Wolves at the weekend and delivered a performance that sparked suggestions that he could face a spell on the bench but responded with a showing that demonstrated his tremendous work rate and commitment, lasting 86 minutes vs Bologna. You’d expect calls for the playmaker to be dropped to die down, and he’ll likely retain his starting berth for the trip to Crystal Palace this weekend.

With a SofaScore rating of 7.2, Szoboszlai’s performance can be deemed encouraging on the statistical front, only outshone in these ratings by the two goalscorers, Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker. Earning a purported £120,000 a week, an outing that sits in this position in relation to the rest of the squad reflects where it ought to be.

Completing 84% of his passes, the Hungary international was relatively secure on the ball, losing possession 10 times, and thus didn’t negatively impact Liverpool’s general build-up in any way. It was the defensive side of his game that stood out, however, winning five ground duels, a number only usurped by Luis Diaz in the Reds’ team. He also managed four ball recoveries, two successful tackles and an important block in what was an industrious display in front of the Kop.

Waxing lyrical on this hard-working performance, Lynch praised Szoboszlai on X:

Szoboszlai Needs to Improve in Final Third

He was wasteful against Bologna

If Salah hadn’t produced two moments of individual brilliance, and Liverpool had been held to a stalemate, then perhaps there would’ve been more heat on Szoboszlai for his showing. Despite all the great defensive work, which would’ve delighted Slot, the 23-year-old produced another uninspiring game in the final third.

Credited with the assist for the Salah stunner, his influence in attacking areas didn’t go much further than that. The pass to the Egyptian for the second goal was his only key pass, registering a measly 0.03 expected assists. He took just one shot, and completed three passes into the final third, with no accurate cross and two successful dribbles.

Finding himself in promising situations with space, Szobszlai used the ball poorly, often making incorrect decisions, over-hitting or under-hitting passes, or getting dispossessed for trying something too elaborate. When he first arrived on Merseyside, his effervescence on the ball and technical flair in his shooting endeared him to the Liverpool faithful, but he appears to have lost some confidence in this aspect of his game.

He’ll certainly need to improve with his final ball and general end product, to compliment his impressive defensive work, if he wants to retain his place in Slot’s team.

All Statistics via SofaScore. Correct as of 02-10-24.