Dominik Szoboszlai explains what Arne Slot wanted from he and Curtis Jones up front for Liverpool against Man City

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Liverpool will feel they have one hand on the Premier League trophy after a controlled 2-0 victory over Manchester City.

The Reds knew they could move 11 points clear of Arsenal with a win at the Etihad Stadium against Pep Guardiola’s bruised champions.

With the pressure slightly off them following the Gunners loss against West Ham, Liverpool delivered.

Mohamed Salah was the games outstanding player, picking up a goal and assist in the same match for the 11th time this season.

But while Salah was fantastic, Dominik Szoboszlai was another top performer for Liverpool.

Szoboszlai also claimed a goal and an assist during the game while playing as a duel number 10 with Curtis Jones. And looking back after the game, the Hungarian reflected on the job he and Jones performed.

Dominik Szoboszlai sticks to the plan

Szoboszlai has been growing in importance to Liverpool the longer the season has gone on.

His strike at City was the third goal in his last seven games as the 24-year-old begins to answer calls for greater impact in the final third.

Although he has usually been the furthest forward of Liverpool’s midfielders, more often than not there has been a centre-forward just ahead of him.

That was different on Sunday, with Jones employed alongside him as Liverpool’s most attacking central player. And looking back on their tandem for LFCTV, Szoboszlai said he felt the duo stuck to the plan well.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
1	LiverpoolLiverpool	27	19	7	1	64	26	38	64
2	ArsenalArsenal	26	15	8	3	51	23	28	53
3	Nottm ForestNottingham Forest	26	14	5	7	44	33	11	47
4	Man CityManchester City	26	13	5	8	52	37	15	44

READ MORE: Gary Neville admits there was something that made him ‘so happy’ about watching Liverpool beat Man City

“We played with two tens, Curtis and me,” said the No.8.

“It’s not that we always play like that, without a nine, but that was our plan, that we drag them out so there’s always going to be a space in behind for Mo and Lucho one-on-one. We know their qualities, that’s why we tried to do these things.”

Will Liverpool use Man City plan again?

Given how well things went against City, it may not be the last time we see Arne Slot try this tactic.

The plain truth is that Slot does not trust the options he has at number nine. Both Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez are not covering themselves in glory.

Slot explained why he left Jota and Nunez out on Sunday, with the need to protect the midfield and defence at the front of this thinking, plus a slight fitness concern for the Portuguese.

As a result, it seems unlikely that we will see the same thing against Newcastle on Wednesday, for example.

There aren’t many games where Liverpool will set up to concede possession. But if they do need to in the future, Slot now knows he has another trick in his book.