Liverpool midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai has said there is “a long way to go” in this season’s title race and has urged his teammates to focus on themselves ahead of this weekend’s clash with Manchester City.
Liverpool bounced back from a torrid run of four consecutive Premier League defeats with a 2-0 victory over Aston Villa last weekend, before beating Real Madrid 1-0 in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday night.
Arne Slot’s side were impressive against the LaLiga leaders, however they have lots of ground to make up in the title race, with Arsenal currently seven points ahead of Liverpool and six points clear of second-placed City.
“The most important thing is to keep going like this,” Szoboszlai said. “There is a long way to go. Now it’s all about the Premier League and facing Man City at the weekend. We know how good they are now. We have to focus on that.
“The season is long. If we were seven points clear at this stage nobody would be saying that we had won the league already. Last season when we were leading the way, we just stayed calm and kept on going because anything can happen.
“We just need to focus on ourselves, win our games and then let’s see what other teams are doing.”
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Asked what has helped to lift Liverpool out of their recent slump, Szoboszlai said: “I think the team spirit. We are a really close team. Everyone protects each other, we are there for each other. That’s been the most important thing.
“When everything works, everyone is happy and it’s all positive, it’s easy to stick together.
“The hardest thing is when you find yourself in a position where we were a few weeks ago. But even then we stuck together and kept on going, believing it would turn for us.”
Despite Liverpool’s struggles this term, Szoboszlai has been a standout performer for Slot’s side, playing every minute in both the Premier League and the Champions League.
Asked if he now views himself as a leader in the team, the Hungary international added: “We have enough leaders with Virgil [van Dijk], with Mo [Salah], with Robbo [Andy Roberston], with Ali [Becker]. They have been here longer, some of them seven or eight years here, the captain and vice-captains.
“I just try to do my best on the pitch. If it seems like I am a leader, then I’ll keep doing that on the pitch, not outside the pitch.”
