Dominik Szoboszlai sends 'champions' message to Arsenal ahead of Liverpool clash - 'They know'
- mrwedwards
- 23 hours ago
- 3 min read
Dominik Szoboszlai has warned Arsenal the Premier League hasn't been won yet but admits it would be "crazy" to think Liverpool can still defend their title.
And the midfielder is convinced Arne Slot and his coaching staff can find the solution to helping the champions rediscover their swagger of last season
Liverpool travel to runaway leaders Arsenal on Thursday evening aiming to put a dent in the Gunners' title charge and extend their own nine-game unbeaten run that has seen them return to the Champions League qualification places having previously lost six of seven league games.
Arsenal are six points clear of nearest challengers Manchester City and Aston Villa, and are odds-on to win the title for the first time in 22 years.
But Szoboszlai said: "It's a long way (to go). The Premier League is not easy. You don't win it by January.
"So I don't think we are playing against the champions. They're playing against the champions. And that's probably (something) they know as well, we know as well.
"Of course they are one of the favourites for this year - unbelievable team, really good players. But we shouldn't also forget about Man City, about Villa, who are doing very good.
"No, we don't play against the champions. They play against the champions."
While having not lost in six weeks, Liverpool have attracted criticism for their style of play during that period in which the need to become more difficult to beat has come at the expense of attacking flair, which has contributed to damaging draws against Sunderland, Leeds United and Fulham.
Szoboszlai said
"We have so many people in the club to find solutions and I'm pretty sure they will,"
"Every player has a couple of things they are thinking that everyone has to keep to themselves, then in the end we will speak to each other as a group and grow as a group.
“We are Liverpool and right now are champions of England.”
"We were really down, so from there everything is progress. We are trying to get back to where we belong - I don't mean only in the position, we would like to play the same football we did last season and that's what we have to think.
"Of course, the other teams know us now and will try to hurt us how they can, which is normal. But if you want to compete for something, you have to find a solution."
Liverpool's underwhelming season has seen them slip 14 points behind Arsenal - their biggest gap to the Premier League summit since May 2023.
And of suggestions the Reds could yet embark on a title challenge during the second half of the campaign, Szoboszlai said to Sky Sports:"It's crazy. By February we were 10 points clear.
"Now, probably because we are so many points behind we can't think in the long-term, we have to think game by game. We have to show game by game we are even able to be in the top four.
"Last year when the manager came in, nobody was really thinking we were going to win it. Then we started very well and we kept on going.
“If you ask anybody, they'd have never thought we would win the league at the start of that season as the chance was really”
“Now we started well in the first five games and the luck was on our side with winning in extra time. That showed we were ready again.
“Then sometimes comes a little hit and we didn't react in a way that we should, then it comes again and again.
“We saw this last season with City. That's the time we have to realise our aim is to go game by game."
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