Why Dominik Szoboszlai's recent goalscoring spree was INEVITABLE

Back in autumn Arne Slot laid down a challenge to Dominik Szoboszlai.

"He has been outstanding in his pressing game,” the new Liverpool head coach said.

“Something that we have to work on with him is scoring goals and creating chances. His numbers need to go up but I am really happy with him and I’m sure his numbers will go up.”

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Szoboszlai actually fell out of favour during his first season at the club following his £60 million arrival from RB Leipzig. Jurgen Klopp preferred Harvey Elliott during the run-in with Szoboszlai running out of steam throughout the 2023/24 campaign.

He has faced a rival for his position again this season with Curtis Jones but the Hungarian captain has taken huge leaps forward this campaign and in 2025 in particular.

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Szoboszlai is an integral figure in the Liverpool midfield, working tirelessly to close down opponents and win the ball back.

His astute tactical intelligence provides Slot with solutions on and off the ball with the 24-year-old adept at dictating play and passing the ball forward into dangerous areas.

And over the last few weeks he has managed to get those numbers up and it’s not before time. For a player of his profile - and his cost - he really wasn’t scoring enough. Szoboszlai has taken steps to rectify that in recent matches.

Szoboszlai close to matching his xG

Aside from taking a starring role in the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg against Tottenham earlier this month, Szoboszlai was also on the scoresheet. That goal was added to an assist he contributed in the FA Cup against Accrington Stanley back in January.

Szoboszlai has made huge strides in his goalscoring in recent Premier League matches. Having scored against Southampton and Spurs before the turn of the year, Szoboszlai has weighed in with goals against Ipswich, Manchester City and Newcastle in recent weeks.

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The goals against City and Newcastle have come in Liverpool’s last two league matches and were part of two overall classy performances on the part of the playmaker.

Szoboszlai is finally getting just rewards for his endeavours and is maybe benefitting from losing his inhibitions in front of goal.

According to FBREF, the midfielder has an expected goals (xG) total of 6.6 this season in the Premier League against an actual goal total of five. He has taken steps in recent weeks to put his actual numbers in line with his expected numbers.

Szoboszlai has taken a total of 54 shots in the league so far this season, successfully aiming 17 of those on target. He is hitting the target with 31.5 percent of his efforts and now has five goals to show for it.

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There have been slight but noticeable tweaks in his game in front of goal. Last season Szoboszlai was shooting from an average distance of 24.3 yards - per FBREF - but this season that gap has closed to just 18 yards. Szoboszlai is getting his shots off from far closer to the goal and that has now begun to pay dividends.

This recent goal glut was inevitable, and Slot’s training was always going to pay off.

The coach always knew that he had a hard-running and willing midfield player. But now he’s got one with a consistent goalscoring output to match.

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