Manchester United will be looking to subject Liverpool to a fourth consecutive defeat on Sunday’s trip to Anfield, and in order to do so, they’ll need Benjamin Sesko to be at his very best.
Born in Radece,
Slovenia, Sesko was 16 when he left his homeland for Austria and joined Red Bull Salzburg’s world-renowned youth pipeline. Similarly to countless other players like Dominik Szoboszlai, Diadie Samassekou, Sadio Mane and Konrad Laimer, Sesko was forced to cut his teeth in the Austrian second division with their reserve side Liefering before eventually making their mark the first team. After a stellar 2020/21 season that saw him score 21 goals and 6 assists in 29 appearances for the second team as well as make his first-team debut, Sesko broke onto the scene and became a regular performer under Matthias Jaissle. Despite missing a significant chunk of time with torn muscle fiber, Sesko would manage 11 goals and 5 assists in 37 appearances across all competitions in his first-ever top-flight season. He would take his game to another notch in 2022/23, replacing Karim Adeyemi as the club’s attacking talisman and leading Salzburg to a 10th straight Austrian Bundesliga title, prompting RB Leipzig to sign him in the summer of 2023.
It didn’t take long for Sesko to adjust to life in Germany, racking up 18 goals and 2 assists in 42 appearances, before overtaking Lois Openda as the club’s top scorer with 21 goals and 6 assists in 45 appearances. With Leipzig missing out on Europe, it was only a matter of time before Sesko departed Germany for greener pastures, with a number of the continent’s biggest sides casting their eyes on the Slovenian forward. However, it was Manchester United who won the race for him, paying €76.5 million with an additional €8.5 million in add-ons and tying him down to a five-year contract.
After a slow beginning to life in Manchester that saw him fail to provide a goal contribution in his first six appearances (two starts), Sesko opened his account on September 27, a goal that was the epitome of: ‘If you don’t at first succeed, try, try, try again.” When Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher made a mess out of a standard cross and failed to get a glove to it, Sesko was there to head home, only to be denied by Kelleher. He attempted to beat him with a tepid right-footed shot, only to be easily thwarted from close range, but he made no mistake whatsoever with his third attempt, taking aim with his left foot and blazing his debut goal into the top of the net. Sesko was included in the starting line-up for the fourth straight match on October 4 in their home match vs. early breakout stars Sunderland, where he delivered a composed display on and off the ball. Sesko won 4 out of 14 aerial duels and 5 out of 12 ground duels, whilst he also made 3 recoveries, 2 clearances and 1 interception, in addition to providing 2 key passes.
Most importantly, though, he was able to double United’s lead within a half-hour, once again taking advantage from an opposition mistake. When a sea of blue shirts failed to adequately deal with Diogo Dalot’s long throw-in, Sesko was in perfect position to soak up the ricochet, showcasing instant reactions and a superb first touch as he struck home on the volley to secure a 2-0 win. However, he was unable to come up with the goods in the international break as Slovenia succumbed to back-to-back goalless draws against Kosovo and Switzerland. With just two matches remaining, Slovenia find themselves all but guaranteed to miss out on World Cup qualification, sitting four points behind Kosovo and seven behind Switzerland.
Sesko will be looking to bounce back from his international setbacks by bagging in the third straight match for United, and he’ll be doing so against a Liverpool side that currently finds itself in the worst run of form since Arne Slot’s appointment in the summer of 2024. After kicking off the season with seven straight victories, Liverpool have since lost three in a row to Crystal Palace, Galatasaray, and Chelsea. The reigning Premier League champions sit second in the table, one point behind Arsenal and five behind 10th-placed Manchester United.
If Manchester United are to come away with their first away league win since their 3-0 victory at Leicester on March 16, it’s fair to say that Benjamin Sesko will have a big role to play. As he faces a star-studded Liverpool team featuring two of the game’s best young strikers in Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike, the time is ripe for Sesko to show why he belongs in the upper echelon of the best U-23 center forwards in world football.
