Dominik Szoboszlai teamed up with Alexis Mac Allister in training on Sunday, playing a different role than perhaps
Liverpool fans would have anticipated.
Dominik Szoboszlai has only just gotten started at Liverpool, but he has already made a strong impression on the
club’s supporters alongside Alexis Mac Allister. The duo is set to herald a new midfield revolution at Anfield, and
there have already been glimmers of that in pre-season.
Szoboszlai started the first day of training by winning the lactate test in his group, and finishing behind Mohamed
Salah overall in what was a big indication of why he is ready to play Jürgen Klopp’s gegenpress.
Since then, the Hungarian has been getting settled in and used to the new pace and rhythm of the game.
In the most recent clip shared by Liverpool’s official Twitter account, he can be seen linking up with Trent
Alexander-Arnold and Mac Allister in training before putting the ball into the net.
Perhaps it’s not the link-up nor the finish that is the most intriguing aspect of the video, but rather it’s the
positioning of Mac Allister and Szoboszlai.
When the Hungarian arrived at Anfield, many expected him to slot into the right-sided midfield role. After all, he
played the vast majority of his minutes last season at RB Leipzig on the right side, and he is also right-footed.
However, in this clip, he can be seen picking up positions on the left, while Mac Allister, who predominantly played
as a left-sided midfielder for Brighton last season, is on the right.
This is an intriguing prospect, but perhaps the ‘new’ role is not entirely ‘new’ for Szoboszlai. While last season he
played on the right for RB Leipzig, for the vast majority of his time in the Hungarian national team, he has played on
the left side.
Even as recently as this summer’s European Championship qualifiers, Szoboszlai mainly played behind the striker on
the left side, or as part of a midfield four, again playing in the more advanced left-sided midfield role.
This has been a regular occurrence in the Hungarian national team. Last year, when Hungary demolished England 4-
0, Szoboszlai was used on the left. It was the same against England a few days prior when he scored the winning goal
against the Three Lions in another Hungarian victory.
Szoboszlai, while being right-footed, is also comfortable on his left, and he is capable of cutting into the middle from
that side and unleashing long-distance shots.
Just take a look at his goals for the national team, with all of them coming from either a central or more left-leaning
position as per Wyscout.
He’s got the ability to be a threat even in a left-sided role, especially from long distance with five of his last seven
goals for the national team coming from outside the box. Whereas, for Leipzig last season, when Szoboszlai was
playing on the right, his goals mostly came from inside the box with the Hungarian often popping up in the area with
surging runs.
In fact, out of the last eight goals he scored for Leipzig, only one of those goals was from outside the box. Granted
that was a stunner against Borussia Dortmund, but even that, while taken from a central position, actually saw
Szoboszlai cutting in from the left and drifting to the middle before unleashing a venomous effort on goal.
Here is his shot map for Leipzig below:
Given the fact that it is his right foot that has the lethal power when it comes to long-distance strikes, itAs a right footer, he will be at a better angle to cut in and score from long-distance from the left. This is also why
Klopp often uses left-footed players like Mohamed Salah on the right wing and vice versa.
With Liverpool having followed his career closely, the club will also be well aware that, throughout most of his
career, Szoboszlai has tended to play a lot of his minutes on the left side. Barring his exploits for Leipzig last season,
if you look at his heat map not just for the Hungarian national team but overall in his career, it becomes very
apparent that he has played the majority of his minutes on the left side.
Below you can see Szoboszlai’s heat map from last season, his heat map for the Hungarian national team, and his
overall career heat map.
Szoboszlai is clearly flexible in how and where he can be used. His versatility will have been a key factor in Liverpool
deciding to bring him to Anfield.
It’s already starting to show in training as well, and it would not be a surprise to see him interchanging his role for
Liverpool next season depending on what Klopp requires him to do.
One thing is clear though, if the Reds want to unleash his long-range threat, he might just be better positioned to
play on the left side rather than the right. However, if Liverpool wants him to be a creative presence in the team, then
Szoboszlai might be better off being played on the right where he is at a better angle to whip in crosses and through
balls with his right foot — which is why he had his best campaign in turns of creativity while playing on the right for
Leipzig last season.
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