No one foresaw this. Even the most optimistic of Liverpool supporters wouldn’t have dreamed up a world where Arne Slot basked in an eight-point lead in the Premier League heading into December.
December 1st marks quite the date: Liverpool host Manchester City in the league as Pep Guardiola seeks to stop the rot that has sent his season into a tailspin.
Early days. Early days. Liverpool are champions elect after climbing back to beat Southampton? More fool the fan who is subscribed to that notion.
There are plenty of twists and turns left as Liverpool move through 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 though, it must be said. Even when the parts don’t combine to the most rip-roaring effect, Slot’s squad still find a way. Of course, with Mohamed Salah at the spearhead, such things are child’s play.
Mohamed Salah’s talismanic season
Salah’s days on Merseyside might be numbered, but he’s not letting that affect his performances for Liverpool this season. In fact, the Egyptian sensation is supercharged by a sense of urgency that perhaps speaks of a man on borrowed time.
That’s a downcast thought that would be fit for the conditions that Slot’s side faced at the St. Mary’s Stadium. The thing is, though, this is a team with a moveless mindset. Salah’s brace turned the game on its head and Liverpool are now eight points clear at the top of the Premier League.
We’ve met too many false dawns to get excited yet – after all, Manchester City journey to Anfield next weekend. Salah said post-match that “hopefully we can beat City,” and he’s certain to be confident after his performance on the South Coast.
The 32-year-old’s two late goals negated Southampton’s fine work in turning the game on its head, with his effort now leaving him with ten goals and six assists across 12 Premier League matches. Salah’s consistency on English shores is frankly absurd and he is undisputedly one of the finest players to have graced the division.
Most PL Goal Involvements (Single Side) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Rank | Player | Club | G/A |
1. | Wayne Rooney | Man United | 276 |
2. | Ryan Giggs | Man United | 271 |
3. | Harry Kane | Tottenham | 259 |
4. | Thierry Henry | Arsenal | 249 |
5. | Mohamed Salah | Liverpool | 239 |
Stats via Squawka | |||
Salah wasn’t the only one to produce an emphatic display though, with Dominik Szoboszlai opening the scoring and putting in a high-class performance that might just leave him undroppable going forward.
Why Dominik Szoboszlai is now undroppable
Admittedly, Szoboszlai can be frustrating to watch sometimes. Do more, we cry. Please, channel that energy and electricity into something prolific and potent and all the rest.
His “sublime” finish against Southampton, as Sky Sports’ Jamie Carragher put it, proved that he can produce those moments of genuine quality to illuminate his name on the big board, but it’s perhaps important to dig deeper into the underlying data and understand that the attacking midfielder is quietly becoming one of Liverpool’s most important players.
Having been benched in two of the previous three top-flight outings, this was a welcome return to form and something that the Hungary captain will feel he can use as a springboard to more positive noise.
Journalist Bence Bocsak hailed the 23-year-old’s “brilliant performance” and rightly so. As per Sofascore, he notably completed 100% (2/2) of his dribbles, made three key passes and won six of his eight contested ground duels.
That duel success is particularly interesting, a step up from his campaign average of 2.2 per game. It’s the tactical dimension that would speak volumes to Slot, proving to him that Szoboszlai is deserving of an unmoving starting berth in Liverpool’s Premier League line-up.
He also made four tackles, four ball recoveries, and completed all four of his long balls, showcasing a technical range that indeed compelled Jurgen Klopp and Jorg Schmadtke to fork out £60m for the RB Leipzig talent’s transfer in the dog days of 2023.
The Liverpool Echo’s Ian Doyle awarded Szoboszlai with an 8/10 match score – the same as Salah – and wrote: ‘Led the Liverpool press, used ball well, had some shots and curled in a fine finish for the opening goal. Energy and work-rate made such a difference.’
It’s important to note that Szoboszlai’s athleticism could be a decisive factor against Guardiola’s beleaguered outfit next week, with Tottenham Hotspur’s Dejan Kulusevski – a player of similarly indefatigable energy and powerful dribbling – running roughshod over the Sky Blues’ defences on Saturday.
The Swede claimed an assist but more importantly, succeeded with all four of his dribbles and won each of his six contested ground duels, as per Sofascore, which pertains to Szoboszlai’s potential continuation of form next weekend given he has the quality, and demonstrated as such against Saints, to adopt that blueprint.
Szoboszlai’s ball-carrying and -playing skills have been discernible from the get-go at Anfield, but fluency in crucial moments has been choppy across the past 15 months.
To be sure, there’s more in the attacking midfielder’s locker, but if he performs as he did against Southampton going forward, there’s no way that Slot will want to demote him to the bench, for his energy and impact on the other forwards is so important.
Salah, for example, is an extraordinary forward, but his life is made easier by Szoboszlai’s movements and they will be called into play once again next.
Liverpool are flying, but there’s so much football still to be played. The quality of a player like Szoboszlai ensures that even when not flourishing, three points can still be secured.
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