Liverpool Secure First Merseyside Derby Victory of the Season, Jurgen Klopp Surprised by Dominik Szoboszlai
Liverpool returned from the international break with a prime opportunity to secure their first Merseyside derby victory of the season. After dropping points against both Tottenham and Brighton in frustrating circumstances, they toiled at Anfield but eventually took that chance with a 2-0 win over Everton courtesy of two goals from Mo Salah.
Jurgen Klopp fielded three Merseyside derby debutants in his starting lineup – and discovered shortly before kickoff that one of those, Dominik Szoboszlai, was playing in his first derby altogether.
Klopp Surprised by Szoboszlai
“[It was a] difficult game,” Klopp told reporters. “Even before the first whistle, it’s always like I don’t know 100 percent how we will be ready for that. When we had the finishing [drill] before, the warmup, Dom told me ‘I’ve actually never played a derby before’. [I said], ‘what do you mean?’. [He told me], ‘Salzburg doesn’t have a derby, Leipzig doesn’t have a derby, Hungary maybe has a derby but the countries who would be a derby we never played since I’ve played international football’. [I replied], ‘OK, good, no problem, you always give 100 percent, so you are ready for the game’. So you don’t know exactly what it is, and I liked what I saw.”
Szoboszlai was clearly not affected by the occasion, ending with the third-most touches of any player with 107, behind only Trent Alexander-Arnold (118) and Virgil van Dijk (114), as well as the most shots (five) and chances created (four), per FotMob.
Szoboszlai Confident Despite Lack of Experience
It was, of course, not the first high-profile clash of his career, and in his own post-match interview, the 22-year-old showed his confidence.
“Probably I’m mostly with Trent,” he told TNT Sports. “I asked him how it’s going to be, but everybody in the staff said it’s going to be really good. I just came out and [we] took the three points.”
Klopp’s surprise at Szoboszlai’s lack of experience in derbies was understandable, but the Hungarian midfielder’s performance showed that he was more than ready for the occasion. His confidence and ability to take control of the game were key factors in Liverpool’s victory, and he will no doubt be an important player for them in the coming weeks and months.