Dominik Szoboszlai Shines for Liverpool Against Tottenham
Dominik Szoboszlai did not bother scrolling through the criticism. He answered it instead – with a thunderbolt.
On a cool Carabao Cup night, the Hungarian drove Liverpool past Tottenham 3-1 with a performance that cut straight through the noise around his form. His long-range rocket, arrowed into the top corner, felt like a reminder and a warning rolled into one: the talent that lit up Anfield last season has not gone anywhere.
“Was there a criticism? I don't know, I didn't see but thanks for telling me,” Szoboszlai said afterwards, a hint of edge in his voice. “You know this goal was for the people who are always next to me because we are also humans so we can have bad games.”
He had one of those against Fulham. And he knows it.
From Fulham doubts to Spurs statement
The goalless draw with Fulham had dragged his name into debate shows and social feeds. Szoboszlai won just one of his 10 duels that day, a number that jarred with the intensity Liverpool demand and with the standards he has set since arriving from RB Leipzig.
Under Andoni Iraola’s new regime at Anfield, the midfield has been ripped up and redrawn. One 6, one 8, one 10. Constant rotation. Constant running. Constant thinking.
“I think you guys see a little bit different because we play with one 6, one 8 and one 10 so the 6 and the 8 are not next to each other,” he explained. “The 8 is a little bit higher and the 6 is a little bit deeper and the 10 is a little bit even higher so it is not two next to each other.”
It is a system that asks a lot of its midfielders. Iraola wants aggression without losing structure, creativity without losing control. Szoboszlai has been dropped into the eye of that storm.
“Last week against Fulham I was a No. 8, I have been No. 2 as well, I have been No. 6, No. 8, No. 10, No. 7 also,” he said, almost laughing at the list. The numbers keep changing. The expectation does not.
A midfielder without a label
Outside the club, the argument rumbles on: is he best as a driving No. 8, a high 10, or a deeper playmaker? Inside, Szoboszlai is not losing sleep over it.
No, I just want to be on the pitch,” he said. “Maybe I am not at the best in the 6 position because I win one of the 10 duels, maybe next the game I am going to win eight out of 10, so I am then a good 6? So it's always balance.
That line cuts to the heart of it. Iraola’s Liverpool is still taking shape, still absorbing injuries, still tweaking roles. Szoboszlai’s versatility has become a tool the manager leans on, not a problem to be solved. He fills gaps, shifts zones, adapts on the fly. Some weeks he is the one crashing the box, other weeks he is the one knitting play from deep.
Against Spurs, he did a bit of everything – and then lit the night up with that strike. The pressure that had been building around him evaporated the moment the ball left his right foot.
Reaction over reputation
Liverpool’s win over Tottenham booked a fourth-round Carabao Cup tie with Chelsea, another heavyweight night under the lights. But the dressing room has already turned its gaze elsewhere.
Bournemouth await in the Premier League on Sunday, and with that comes the next test of Szoboszlai’s response. The standard he set in midweek will be the one he is judged against again.
“There will be games where we are not playing at our best as a team, as personally me or somebody else,” he said. “But trust me it is always leave the past and then the next one, the next one, the reaction is what matters.”
The criticism arrived quickly after Fulham. The answer arrived even quicker. Now comes the real question for Liverpool’s No. 8: can he make this kind of reaction his new routine, rather than just his reply?
