Robbie Earle was full of praise for Dominik Szoboszlai’s energetic first-half performance against Chelsea on Sunday, comparing the midfielder to Newcastle’s Sandro Tonali.
The Hungarian international certainly made an impression in the first 45 minutes of action, showcasing another useful prong in Liverpool’s attack with a superb early run into the hosts’ box.
“This guy injects more speed and more pace into the game. Lovely touch on the ball, we saw him wiggle past a few players,” the pundit spoke on NBC Sports’ coverage. “A bit like Tonali at Newcastle – he can influence a game with his own ability.”
After what was a mostly disappointing outing in the Reds’ final pre-season win over Darmstadt at the Deepdale, which had highlighted a number of concerns ahead of the new season, it’s highly reassuring to see the former RB Leipzig man adapting to the combativeness of the Premier League.
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There are still big questions to answer over the robustness of a midfield without a natural holding midfielder – questions that will only become more intense as the days go by whilst Stefan Bajcetic works on returning to full fitness.
Jurgen Klopp will certainly be aware that we can’t pin our hopes of a compact midfield on the shoulders of the Spanish-Serbian after his serious injury last term.
Liverpool must invest and do so soon before other outfits can look to exploit our clear weakness in the middle of the park.