Dominik Szoboszlai was a key player for Liverpool over the past two seasons, but few on the outside seemed to expect him to take the step forward that he has in 2025-26, becoming one of the few bright spots in a struggling side. In fact, many thought the signing of Florian Wirtz would impact his playing time.
Instead, the only thing that’s gotten in the way of Szoboszlai playing more minutes in his favoured midfield role has been his flexibility and a defensive depth crisis that has forced him to
fill in at right back more than might have been ideal. When he’s not needed there, though, he remains a lock to start in midfield.
“You need to be able to run a lot if you play in the midfield of Liverpool,” head coach Arne Slot reflected after another game, another star turn, and another goal for Szoboszlai over the weekend as part of what ended up a thorough 3-0 FA Cup victory over Premier League opponents Brighton & Hove Albion.
“But I think you also need to produce goals. He hasn’t always played in the ten, but he is producing more and more goals. I think Dominik is a great example of the model we use to sign young players—and he was already known for being really physical—but I think it’s fair to say he is better than two years ago.
“That is what you get when you sign young players and then give them a bit of time and you let them play a lot. That’s why I also think that the trajectory he’s been through, that it is the same trajectory that we can expect from some of the other young players we have that we’ve signed now from other leagues.”
Certainly striker Hugo Ekitike has hit the ground running for the Reds, and Florian Wirtz has been increasingly influential of late, though this group as a whole probably still needs to prove they have it in them to be the sort of genuine title contenders everyone thought they would be at the start of the current season.
“You can see their progress,” Slot insisted. “But I’ve said many times that next season or at the end of this season, players like Hugo and Florian—because these are the two that came from the Bundesliga—will be even better next year than they are already now, because they are all already very good players for us.”
