Liverpool delivered an outstanding performance against Newcastle United. However, amid all the positives there was one thing that did not go according to plan.
Jurgen Klopp has already had to contend with a lot of injuries this season. The most notable have been Andy Robertson’s long-term set-back and Joel Matip potentially being ruled out for the rest of the season.
But little niggles have held back the likes of Curtis Jones, Ibrahima Konate and Alexis Mac Allister during crucial parts of the season as well.
Against Newcastle, while the Reds produced a perfect all-round performance, Klopp had to face yet another set-back, which he will not be too pleased about.
Just after the hour mark, Dominik Szoboszlai limped off holding his thigh and gritting his teeth while being substituted. That was a worrying sign for Liverpool supporters, who have been enamoured with their new number eight since he arrived at Anfield last summer.
The Hungarian midfielder has so far been ever-present in Liverpool’s Premier League matches, and only started one game from the bench with Klopp naming him in the starting XI in the rest of the 19 league matches so far.
But now Liverpool may have to contend without him for the foreseeable future.
Dominik Szoboszlai plan explained
The most irksome factor about Szoboszlai’s injury for Klopp will be the fact that had everything gone according to plan the Reds might have been able to avoid it.
“We wanted to take him off, that was the plan, but unfortunately it was somehow a minute late because in the last situation he felt the hamstring,” Klopp told Liverpool’s official website.
“Now we don’t know the extent of it, obviously, so we have to wait.”
With Liverpool set to lose Mohamed Salah and Wataru Endo to the African Cup of Nations and the Asian Cup, Szoboszlai’s injury couldn’t have come at a worse time for Klopp. The Hungarian would have been a candidate to occupy Salah’s right-wing position in his absence, having previously played in that role for RB Leipzig.
Meanwhile, Szoboszlai also provides crucial depth in midfield, and has previously even played as a holding midfielder for Liverpool this season, and for his nation as well.
The Reds will now wait anxiously for his full diagnosis and hope that Szoboszlai’s injury isn’t too long, and he will be back fit and available as soon as possible.
There are positives to gleam from the fact that Szoboszlai has only missed one competitive game due to injury since the summer of 2021, so the hope will be that he can make a swift return to full fitness.
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