Although Dominik Szoboszlai is putting a lot of effort into improving his goal-scoring performance, he maintained that playing a “dirty job” for Arne Slot’s Liverpool team is more vital.
Szoboszlai contributed eight goals in 55 games for the Reds last season, but his solitary goal this season came in the 3-1 Champions League victory over AC Milan in September. This has caused some Liverpool fans and occasionally even his own manager to express displeasure.
The 23-year-old stated that while he is working hard on the training field to get better, he is more focused on the team’s performance than his individual stats.
Before Wednesday’s Champions League encounter against RB Leipzig, Szoboszlai was asked if he was satisfied with his form. He replied that he wasn’t.
“It can always be better so, no,” the 23-year-old stated. “I’m capable of playing better. I can provide more assists and score more goals. However, the most important thing to me is that I am performing a dirty job for the team. The most important thing to me is not scoring goals because we are at the top of the league.
“I’ll accept it if we win the league and I don’t score a goal. I’m making an effort to improve it so that I can score more goals. I’ll get there, but it will take some time.”
Liverpool and Szoboszlai will play his old team, RB Leipzig, in the Champions League tonight.
After joining Leipzig from sister club RB Salzburg in 2021, Szoboszlai played for Leipzig for two seasons before moving for Liverpool in the summer of 2023 in a reputed £60 million move.
“It has been a quick one and a half years (since leaving),” the athlete from Hungary stated. “I arrived here as a young player, left as an adult, and am currently a Premier League player.
“I discovered a great deal of information that I was previously unaware of. I can only say good things (about the club), and you can always learn something from different coaches and players.
“I’m glad to be back and to visit my fans and old friends. Since my last transfer was a little too short, I was unable to truly say goodbye to them.”
Liverpool returned to the top of the Premier League after a 2-1 victory over Chelsea on Sunday, which prepared them for their trip to Germany.
Even though they have only six points from their first two Champions League games, Slot still has a lot of things he would like to see changed about his team.
“You can’t ask for much more when it comes to the results, but when it comes to what we want there is always room for improvement,” he remarked.
We certainly didn’t outplay Chelsea, in my opinion; they were more effective with the ball. In a perfect world, we would have dominated the game, just like we did in so many others. We haven’t arrived yet.
“When we play a team like Chelsea or Manchester United, you see a team fighting for every inch, every meter, and every instant, and that can be pivotal in the game, and that’s what we demonstrated. That’s the good thing about the team and our performance.
“I am hoping that in the near future we will play a difficult game like the Milan game or the United game and be more dominant than we were against Chelsea.”
After getting hurt against Chelsea, Diogo Jota did not go to Germany. Slot stated that he was unsure of how long the forward would be sidelined due to bruises.
Longer-term absentees Alisson Becker and Harvey Elliot have also not traveled, as have Conor Bradley and Federico Chiesa.
Caoimhin Kelleher, a Republic of Ireland international, is anticipated to start in goal again.