5 talking points – Liverpool suffers injury scare but opens the Arne Slot era against Real Betis

Dominik Szoboloszai’s goal in the first half of Liverpool’s match against Real Betis gave the Reds their first win under Arne Slot since the departure of Jurgen Klopp.

In Arne Slot’s first game in charge, Liverpool defeated Real Betis, with Dominik Szoboszlai scoring the first goal of the Dutchman’s rule.

In the friendly known as the “Iron City Showdown” at Pittsburgh’s Acrisure Stadium, the Reds defeated the La Liga team thanks to a beautiful finish set up by Mo Salah for the Kop midfielder.

Although Curtis Jones had an injury in the first half that may raise concerns, Slot’s team had a rather uneventful and unremarkable start to their preseason trip in the United States.

In the second half of the match, Manuel Pellegrini’s team barely had any threats until Szoboszlai fired wide. In a match where Slot deployed twenty-three men, Betis managed to push substitute keeper Vitezslav Jaros beyond Rodri, but they were unable to get an equaliser.

In front of 42, 679 spectators at the Pittsburgh Steelers’ home stadium, Trey Nyoni, a 17-year-old midfielder, was one of the game’s star performers. Nyoni replaced the injured Jones in the first half.

Formation

It was evident that Slot would alter Liverpool’s style of play from the Jurgen Klopp era and that this would involve a completely different formation. The Reds’ formation was unclear for the first few minutes, but when they had the ball, they quickly adopted a 4-2-4 formation.

Although it’s difficult to read too much into friendly matches, particularly in the heat and on a heavy pitch at the NFL stadium, there was undoubtedly a more possession-based and methodical approach than there had been under Jurgen Klopp.

Playing two No. 10s was more of a necessity because there wasn’t a striker available at the time, Slot stated thereafter.

Curtis Jones injured once more?

Just a day prior, the England midfielder was praising his new boss and discussing how he had a “clean slate” to establish himself and secure a regular starting position under Slot. Everything was going smoothly. roughly twenty-seven minutes. Jones was made to leave before the thirty minutes had passed and headed right down the tunnel. A poor attempt at an audition.

It looked like he was having trouble with his hamstrings. It might have been a safety measure. However, Jones has struggled throughout his first-team career with nagging injuries that prevent him from building momentum. He’ll be praying that this isn’t just another spell of being idle and that the timing is off.

After the match, Slot made the following statement: “I don’t think it’s clear how awful it is yet. He may have continued, but it’s possible that you could tell that he wasn’t playing at his best.

“It was preferable to pull him off in a friendly game because our trip has a lot of days left. We’ll have to wait and see, but maybe he can bounce back from [it] quite quickly. We’re hoping for a quick recovery so we can see him in the upcoming games.

Will Dominik Szoboszlai continue forward?

The Hungarian captain was one of the midfield three in Jurgen Klopp’s first season at Liverpool. But in this instance, he was positioned inside Salah and next to Harvey Elliott as one of four forwards.

Please accept two false nines. Although it didn’t look like it, Szoboszlai was able to move freely in the area between the Betis assault and defence.

The top player from Hungary scored admirably after running onto a ball from Salah. Szoboszlai, who cost £60 million to sign from RB Leipzig, had an outstanding first half of the previous season. However, he had trouble following his injury return against Newcastle on New Year’s Day. In this new Slot job, can he find his best again? This place definitely revived him.

Hard tackling.

It appears that no one informed the Spaniards that this was a preseason friendly. The La Liga team did not back down from a tackle. Arne Slot’s team didn’t seem to be bothered by Manuel Pellegrini’s team leaving the Reds with a few late goals.

However, Wataru Endo received a yellow card for shoving, and one of Liverpool’s midfield players was the one who was booked. Subsequently, in the second half, Jarrell Quansah tackled Pablo Garcia and was given a yellow card.

Impressive performance by Trey Nyoni.

Despite being just 17 years old, the midfield player appeared more seasoned than his years as he replaced the injured Curtis Jones in the first half. Nyoni, who made his Reds debut the previous season, appeared skilled with the ball and produced some excellent passes when he teamed up with Tyler Morton first, then Endo.

Having played for England at the U16, U17, and U18 levels, the midfielder was recruited by Liverpool in 2023 from Leicester’s junior academy. It was easy to see why based on this data.

As he proceeded to develop into the game, he made a few excellent starts in the second half. Do not hesitate to use forward balls to breach the lines.