Arne Slot, Manager of Liverpool, acknowledges the fans following the team's victory during the Premier League match between Liverpool and Arsenal at Anfield on August 31, 2025 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)placeholder image
Arne Slot, Manager of Liverpool, acknowledges the fans following the team's victory during the Premier League match between Liverpool and Arsenal at Anfield on August 31, 2025 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Liverpool head coach spoke on the performance of match-winner Dominik Szoboszlai after the 1-0 victory.
Arne Slot hailed the performance of Dominik Szoboszlai as his magic delivered Liverpool an early boost in the Premier League title race.
But in the 83rd minute, Szoboszlai came up with the goods when he beat Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya with a sublime free-kick from 30 yards. Szoboszlai again had to feature as a makeshift right-back with Jeremie Frimpong injured and Conor Bradley only recently recovering from a fitness issue.
What’s been said
The Hungarian midfielder once again impressed as an auxiliary defender - with Slot believing that Szoboszlai did not put a foot wrong in his performance against Liverpool’s nearest title rival. The Reds head coach said: “I don’t think he changed at all in the last few games compared to what he did last season. He has always been a player that, I think, understands what a Liverpool player should look like: if you wear this shirt you should give everything, no matter in what position you play.
“As a midfielder he is always the first one to track back, to press high and today I don’t think he did anything wrong. An unbelievable game from him in a position he probably played only two or three times in his life. So, that tells you a lot about the mentality he has. But he played really well, as he played so many times so well as an attacking midfielder also.”
Including Szoboszlai’s goal, Liverpool had a total of three shots on target. Yet Arsenal managed to test Reds goalkeeper Alisson Becker only once throughout the encounter. Yet it is Liverpool who top the table at the first international break of the season and are the only Premier League side yet to drop points.
Slot admitted a share of the spoils would have been fair but saluted Szoboszlai’s intervention. He added: “If we play this game 10 times more in the same fashion then I think it’s eight times a draw, we win it one time and Arsenal wins it one time because it was an uneventful game, which is something sometimes positive as well because both teams were really good in rest defence and in defending.
“But I think normally Arsenal and us are able to create more chances during a game, but it tells you also something about the structure and the amount of discipline both teams have without the ball. Then you need a moment of magic, which we got from Dominik, and that resulted in us winning a game that, like I just said, normally would have ended in a draw.”
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