Arne Slot hails 'underrated' Liverpool star from Ipswich thrashing | OneFootball

Arne Slot was keen to put the spotlight on midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai after Liverpool's comfortable 4-1 win over Ipswich Town on Saturday.

After a mixed debut season at Anfield, Szoboszlai has established himself as a key part of Slot's squad this season and netted his third goal of the season to open the scoring against Ipswich. The Hungary international had a more attacking role this weekend, taking more shots (four) than anybody else on the pitch.

When asked whether Szoboszlai's freedom to pull the trigger was part of his tactics, the Liverpool boss insisted the Hungarian is now playing with a well-deserved sense of confidence.

"I think that's the development the team is in, because when we played Brentford we had 37 shots, a record in the Premier League for an away team," Slot explained. "And then because he is involved in that team, he will probably take a few shots then as well.

Dominik Szoboszlai opened the scoring for Liverpool on Saturday / Gareth Copley/GettyImages

"It is us, the players behind the ball, bringing our attacking players even more in promising positions than we did in the beginning of the season.

"Then if you zoom in on Dom, I think at the beginning of the season he would have played that ball to Mo [Salah], which most of the time was a very good choice because Mo can definitely score a goal as well. And now he decided to go for the goal himself and scored the goal himself.

"Nice for him because, in my opinion, he is a bit underestimated. Not by me, but he doesn't always get the credits for the fact he is very important for this team, because his work-rate is un-be-liev-able," Slot gushed, putting extra emphasis on each syllable. "He just keeps on running with the highest intensity, and that is so important for a team that wants to compete for something."

Szoboszlai has often shared minutes at the top of Liverpool's midfield with Curtis Jones but, with the 23-year-old missing Saturday's game through injury, he could be set for an extended run in the starting lineup.