View: 90% Liverpool player needs position changed after what he did v Bologna
Alexis Mac Allister must replace Liverpool team-mate Dominik Szoboszlai in the advanced midfield role after his sensational performance in the 2-0 win against Bologna.
The Argentine opened the scoring at Anfield on Wednesday [2 October] in the Champions League and once again looked the more threatening of the midfield trio.
Dominik Szoboszlai was all over the pitch against Bologna; his workhorse attitude was on full display and as the pair performed each other’s assigned roles to perfection, Arne Slot should consider a midfield re-shuffle to unlock the potential of his Reds side.
Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai must swap roles at Liverpool
Another match eluded Szoboszlai as he failed to get on the scoresheet for Liverpool even when presented two golden chances on Wednesday (2 October) as the Hungarian continues to struggle to replicate his RB Leipzig form at Anfield.
His overall performance against Bologna was promising and he showed to the Liverpool faithful why Slot continues to select the midfielder despite the lack of goal contributions.
The problems persisted in the final third of the pitch for Szoboszlai – he completed zero per cent of his cross attempts, zero per cent of his long ball attempts, and recorded only one off-target shot [Sofascore].
Mac Allister, on the other hand, was sensational in the attacking aspect of his game, scoring his goal with just one shot on target and completing 90 per cent of his passes, 50 per cent of his long balls, and 50 per cent of his dribbles.
The 23-year-old was almost on par with Ryan Gravenberch defensively, winning 67 per cent of his duels in comparison with a duel success rate of only 62.5 per cent for Mac Allister.
Slot may have to wait a long time for the Szoboszlai, who became one of the brightest young attacking midfielders in world football in Germany, to announce himself at Anfield.
It is becoming apparent he is most effective in this current Liverpool side performing the Jordan Henderson role.
In the Premier League, Szoboszlai is in the top 70 percentile of midfielders for winning duels with a success rate of 51 per cent and a 62.5 per cent success rate with aerial duels, as per Fotmob.
Mac Allister is in the bottom 21.8 percentile for duels, winning only 45 per cent of duels contested and 45.5 per cent of aerial duels contested [Fotmob].
Mac Allister, meanwhile, has won possession in the final third six times to place him in the top 91 percentile and is in the 95 percentile for expected assists (xA) with 1.16 in the Premier League.
Szoboszlai ranks in the 68 percentile for possession won in the final third and his 0.75 xA is in the 56 percentile of all Premier League midfielders.
The stats don’t lie and they all point to a midfield shuffle at Liverpool being the only sensible option for Slot to activate the potential of both his main central options.
This simply must be the route he goes down for when his side travel to Crystal Palace on Saturday [5 October].
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