Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp was taken aback by Dominik Szoboszlai’s claim that he had never played in a derby match before. The Hungary star helped the Reds beat Everton at Anfield on Saturday in his first taste of the Merseyside rivalry.
Szoboszlai has settled into life at Liverpool straight away following his £60million move from RB Leipzig in the summer. He has started all nine Premier League matches so far this season and has two goals to his name in all competitions.
The midfielder started his career at Austrian side Liefering before a two-and-a-half-year spell at Red Bull Salzburg. He spent the same length of time at Leipzig before earning his move to Anfield.
Neither Salzburg nor Leipzig have a local derby anywhere near the level of Liverpool vs Everton. And Klopp was astonished by Szoboszlai’s claim in the lead up to Saturday’s match.
Klopp said: “When we had the finishing in the warm-up Dom told me, ‘I actually never played a derby before.’ I said: ‘What do you mean?’
“‘Salzburg don’t have a derby, Leipzig don’t have a derby, Hungary has maybe a derby but the countries who would be a derby, we never played since I played international football.’
“‘OK, good, no problem, you give always 100 per cent so you are ready for the game’.”
Szoboszlai helped lead Liverpool to a 2-0 win over Sean Dyche’s side. He played the whole match as a Mohamed Salah brace sealed victory for the hosts.
Afterwards, Szoboszlai said Trent Alexander-Arnold had helped teach him the importance of victory in Merseyside derbies. He told TNT Sports: “I am closest with Trent and I asked him how it was going to be. But all of the staff said it would be really good. I just came out and got the three points.”
Szoboszlai was surprised with the level of atmosphere at Anfield, adding: “[The win] feels really good. As I said before, playing at Anfield is something special. I didn’t expect that, but yes it feels nice.
“We were in a good position when they went down to 10 men because at times this season, we have played with 10 or nine men. I know how it feels to play with 10 men so I know how they feel. You have to be focused until the end – we take the three points and move onto the next game.”
