04 July 2023 , 01:00
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Liverpool may have found themselves a new penalty expert in the form of Dominik Szoboszlai following his Merseyside arrival.
The Hungarian playmaker was confirmed as the Reds’ second signing of the summer over the weekend. He rubber-stamped a £60m switch from German side RB Leipzig and has put pen to paper on a five-year deal at Anfield.
Szoboszlai arrives at Liverpool off the back of another very productive season with Leipzig in which he scored ten times, notched 13 assists in all competitions and helped them to another DFB-Pokal title. Whilst his underlying stats appear to make him a good fit for the Reds, particularly with their previous need for midfield recruits, another of his benefits is his penalty record.
Szoboszlai, 22, has taken a grand total of 16 spot-kicks throughout his career. He has scored 15 of those, including all three efforts from the penalty spot last term. The only occasion that he missed came in RB Leipzig’s 3-1 defeat to Bayer Leverkusen during the 2021/22 season.
It also appears that the playmaker has supreme confidence when assuming responsibility from 12 yards. That was on full evidence during a 2-2 draw with French side Paris Saint-Germain during their 2021/22 Champions League campaign.
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With Leipzig 2-1 down in stoppage time, the Germans were awarded a penalty. Szoboszlai stepped up but before he could take the penalty, was approached by Neymar.
Neymar and Dominik Szoboszlai had a conversation before his penalty against PSG (INTERENET PICTURE)Where do you think Dominik Szoboszlai fits in at Liverpool? Share your thoughts in the comments below
Whilst it was unclear what was said between the two initially, the new Liverpool signing opened up on the incident in his post-match interview. He explained: "He was asking me: 'You going to score?' I said yes. He said to me 'are you sure?' I said yes. I never miss. It is how it is."
Szoboszlai duly stuck by his word as he slotted the ball into the bottom corner despite Gianluigi Donnarumma guessing the right way. He might well hope to continue that trend as a new Liverpool player.
Egyptian forward Mohamed Salah is the Reds’ assigned penalty taker and took all six of the spot-kicks that the Reds were awarded last term. He was successful on four occasions.
Salah failed to find the net in their 1-0 defeat against Bournemouth, whilst he also missed with his next effort in the 2-2 draw with Arsenal at Anfield. Jurgen Klopp revealed that he had held talks with the forward to see if he wanted to keep his penalty taker status.
Speaking in May, he said: “We had a conversation and he (Mo) wanted to stay the penalty-taker. We had a normal conversation about it and I said, ‘Okay, you are.’
“You don’t feel great in that moment and that’s what he said. ‘I don’t feel right in that moment’, because the pressure obviously increases with the penalties you miss.”
“I think with all the goals Mo scored, we can’t just judge it for two missed and go away from it,” Klopp added. “That’s what I meant when I said we’ll talk about it. It’s a conversation between two grown-up men.”