Joel Matip says Dominik Szoboszlai can help Liverpool score more goals from set-pieces this season.
Szoboszlai is the talk of the town this week, having played brilliantly against Bournemouth on Saturday. Throughout pre-season, we also saw the damage his corner kicks in particular can do.
And speaking in Liverpool’s Matchday Programme via Liverpool Echo, Matip suggested that he’d noticed just how good the Hungarian’s dead ball deliveries are.
“I think it is normal before a season to lose some players and sign some new ones,” began the 32-year-old. “We lost a lot of quality, but we also received some amazing players. Everybody needs to step in now to fill the gaps now that some players have left and I am looking forward to this. I feel confident we can do this.
“We always had some great set-piece takers, but with Dominik we have got so much additional quality. Maybe he can slot into the team and then we’ve got even more options from set-pieces.”
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Matip also expressed an expectation that Szoboszlai’s balls in could help him personally add to his goal tally for the Reds.
“Hopefully I can keep my run going of scoring every season for Liverpool and hopefully I can do it more than once,” he said. “Of course, it is if you can get opportunities from set-pieces so maybe this is my chance to put some more in. It always helps the team to score goals and hopefully I can help the team again in this way.”
Matip looking for Szobo link-up
Set-piece quality isn’t actually something Liverpool have been short of in recent times.
Trent Alexander-Arnold is as good a dead-ball specialist in the Premier League, while Andy Robertson isn’t bad either. But beyond those two – and Kostas Tsimikas – the Reds haven’t really had too many alternative options.
If you think about the players who have left this summer, you wouldn’t associate any with being particularly specialist dead-ball takers.
Now, with Szoboszlai, they absolutely do have one.
The Hungarian even has his own trademark style. We lost count of the amount of times his little clipped inswingers to the front post caused trouble in pre-season.
Matip himself got on the end of one of them, diverting the ball into the path of Ben Doak, who nudged home.
Judging from Matip’s reaction after the goal, it was actually something that had been worked on prior. Keep doing that, and it won’t be the only time we see this link-up.