Liverpool v Tottenham Hotspur - Carabao Cup Third Round
Liverpool v Tottenham Hotspur - Carabao Cup Third Round | Simon Stacpoole/Offside/GettyImages
Will Liverpool's unbeaten start to the campaign continue? On Tuesday night, the Reds dumped Tottenham out of the EFL Cup, prevailing 3-1 at Anfield, with Alexis Mac Allister and Cody Gakpo on target, before Dominik Szoboszlai's trademark rocket in stoppage time secured the win. Andoni Iraola's team will now host Chelsea in round four at the end of October.
PICK THAT OUT! 🔥
Dominik Szoboszlai wraps up the game for Liverpool the goal of the night 🔴#ITVFootball | @Carabao_Cup | @LFC pic.twitter.com/QR4lvjVm9d
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) September 15, 2026
Before then, the Reds will travel to Iraola's former club Bournemouth in the Premier League on Sunday, this their final fixture before a three week hiatus during the elongated international break. Speaking after the mid-week cup win to the media in the mixed zone, scorer Szoboszlai spoke honestly about plenty of talking points.
During his celebration in front of the Kop, the Hungarian midfielder pointed to his ear, and was asked if this was in response to criticism, and this is what he had to say:
"No, [the celebration] was just for myself... I just decided before the game and I just did it... Was there a criticism? I don’t know. I didn’t see, but thanks for telling me. You know this goal was for the people who are always next to me. Because we are also humans so we can have bad games, we can have bad days and I think never ever was a player who played [well] every game of his life."
Dominik Szoboszlai
The recent criticism of the 25 year old seems harsh and unwarranted. Even last season, as Arne Slot's side endured a very underwhelming campaign, Szoboszlai was one of the club's most consistent performers. Already this time round, he has played 90 minutes in all five league and Champions League fixtures. The Hungarian now has three goals to his name across all competitions, lashing home the 99th minute spot-kick at St James' Park on the opening day, as well as equalising against Atlético Madrid a week ago.
Szoboszlai slots home after a brilliant flick from Araujo! 🔥
📺 Watch live on TNT Sports & HBO Max pic.twitter.com/UrHQTwtgsY
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) September 9, 2026
He has been deployed alongside various partners in numerous midfield roles, yet to be used at right-back by Iraola, having been regularly deployed there by Slot last season. When asked if he has a preferred position or role, Szoboszlai answered "No, I just want to be on the pitch". Nevertheless, he would surely ideally like to be higher up the pitch, closer to Alexander Isak, forced to drop back a bit at the moment, as Iraola accommodates Florian Wirtz.
Wherever he is utilised, the Hungarian captain will continue to be one of the first names on Iraola's team sheet and rightly so. This Liverpool side are far from perfect, still very much a work in progress, but Szoboszlai certainly is not one of the problems, so anyone criticising him really needs to reassess.
Loading recommendations... Please wait while we load personalized content recommendations