Dominik Szoboszlai’s display vs Arsenal has just proven Arne Slot absolutely right about him

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As we head into a new campaign, Liverpool supporters are beginning to get excited about what lies ahead.

The Reds have had a productive pre-season so far, with two wins from two official games played under Arne Slot.

The latest of those came on Thursday, as Liverpool secured an impressive looking 2-1 win over Arsenal in Philadelphia.

Slot was pleased after the game, with the new head coach keen to point out the impact of having Diogo Jota back available up front.

Jota replaced Dominik Szoboszlai in a front two with Harvey Elliott, the Hungarian dropping deeper into midfield. In doing so, Szoboszlai proved some suspicions about his game to be absolutely correct.

Dominik Szoboszlai shows No.6 capabilities

Szoboszlai had a very mixed first season at Anfield. Although there were some big highs for the 23-year-old, he also dropped off badly towards the end of the campaign.

Certainly, much more will be expected from him under Slot. The Dutch coach places an emphasis on his midfielders having more of the ball and this should suit Szoboszlai.

It definitely did on Thursday. The Liverpool No.8 had 40 touches during his 72 minutes on the pitch, posting a pass accuracy of 94%.

While plenty was going through him, Szoboszlai was also adept at stopping Arsenal’s progress into the Liverpool final third.

READ MORE: Arne Slot has been trialling Dominik Szoboszlai as a winger during training

The Hungary captain won two out of two tackles and made four recoveries, showing off some defensive qualities.

To some, those attributes may be slightly surprising. However, nobody on the Liverpool coaching staff will have been at all shocked.

According to recent reports, Slot and Liverpool think Szoboszlai can play effectively as a No.6. Although he is said to be reluctant to do so, Thursday’s game suggested that in Slot’s system, he almost certainly could.

With Liverpool happy to let Wataru Endo go, they may need to find a new deepest-lying midfielder. Perhaps they have just found the answer.

Where will Szoboszlai play for Liverpool?

What Slot decides to do with Szoboszlai could end up being huge for Liverpool’s season.

We think he absolutely could play as a deeper lying player and perhaps this would better bring out some of his better, technical qualities.

Having said that, though, Szoboszlai also showed great attacking instinct during the first friendly against Real Betis.

It shouldn’t be forgotten that the former RB Leipzig man got the only goal of the game while playing in a much more advanced position.

At the end of the day, the final answer may well lie in what Liverpool can do in the transfer market. If Endo stays put and no new midfielder is signed, it seems possible that Szoboszlai will be the man asked to do a version of the Japanese’s job.