da bet7： Liverpool have made an excellent start to the 2023/24 Premier League season after falling by the wayside last year, now restored and focused on continuing the illustrious success under Jurgen Klopp's management.
da esoccer bet： The Reds finished fifth last season to sever a seven-year streak in the Champions League – reaching three finals and winning one – leading many to believe that Klopp's ship had run its course and the end was nigh, but a resounding summer of transfer business has rekindled the fire at Anfield's core.
They currently trail table-toppers Tottenham Hotspur by three points after ten matches played, but at this early stage performance and application is of a greater weight than the standings.
One of the most important jobs of the summer was rebuilding a midfield that had run its course and was no longer fit for purpose, rusty and beyond repair.
The legs had gone, and quite simply the players at Klopp's disposal could not perform to the requisite standard and intensity to turbo-charge his system.
Incomings
Outgoings
Ryan Gravenberch from Bayern Munich (£34m)
Jordan Henderson to Al-Ettifaq (£13m)
Alexis Mac Allister from Brighton (£35m)
Fabinho to Al-Ittihad (£40m)
Dominik Szoboszlai from RB Leipzig (£60m)
James Milner to Brighton (Free)
Wataru Endo from Stuttgart (£16m)
Naby Keita to Werder Bremen (Free)
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to Besiktas (Free)
Roberto Firmino to Al-Ahli (Free)
Transfer fees as per Sky Sports
Arriving were newer, shinier stars looking to impress and contribute to the resurgence on Merseyside, and so far the performances on the pitch have verified the decisions made across the summer months.
Alexis Mac Allister has been the metronomic heartbeat in the deep-lying midfield, not quite enrapturing the Liverpool support yet but performing admirably in a less-favoured No. 6 placement.
Ryan Gravenberch looks like a real prospect and has started to edge his way up the pecking order after struggling with Bayern Munich last year in the Bundesliga; Wataru Endo too has so far proved to be the astute buy required, and while he doesn't start every game, his presence in the squad has been important, notably scoring in Europe last week.
None, however, have surpassed the brilliance of Dominik Szoboszlai in the centre of the park, with perhaps Mohamed Salah's ridiculous efforts in the final third topping the effect of the "Hungarian artist" – as he has been hailed by talent scout Jacek Kulig for his stunning start to the life on English shores.
Szoboszlai's season in numbers
Reporter Neil Jones described Szoboszlai as Klopp's "dream signing", and it's hard to dispute that he is a tailor-made addition to a team so reliant on energy and enthusiasm in offensive transition.
But he's not just an attacking outlet, Szoboszlai's all-action midfield game has been crucial to the Reds' budding renaissance, having completed 88% of his passes in the Premier League this term, as per Sofascore, while also averaging 2.5 key passes, 1.4 tackles and 7.6 ball recoveries per game.
Signing from RB Leipzig in the summer after his £60m release clause was met, Szoboszlai's quality was discernible for all but the way he has cemented an unwavering starting berth in Klopp's side has been extraordinary; it may well be the most resounding start to life at Liverpool since Virgil van Dijk transformed the rearguard upon his £75m transfer from Southampton.
As the dominant Dutchman rewrote the narrative surrounding Liverpool's defensive problems, so too is the former Bundesliga star showering glittering success on the red half of Merseyside,
So far, the 23-year-old has made quite the impression across his 13 appearances, posting two goals and assists apiece and dazzling with such constancy that it's a small wonder fiercer competition was not encountered in pursuing his signature.
Against Nottingham Forest in his previous clash, the Premier League was left awestruck by his all-encompassing feats, with the £120k-per-week machine registering two assists in the 3-0 victory, also completing 93% of his passes, making four key passes and winning four ground duels.
The Liverpool Echo's Theo Squires gave some rather quirky and effusive remarks during the clash, stating that his pinpoint balls were "like buses", barrelling in one after the other.
Liverpool have their new maestro, and Klopp now wields a creative force in midfield unlike anything seen since the days of Philippe Coutinho, whose sale perhaps started this entire chapter of success at Anfield.
How Szoboszlai compares to Coutinho
Since leaving Liverpool in January 2018, when Barcelona paid an exorbitant fee of £142m for Coutinho's services, the 31-year-old has sadly endured a steady decline.
Despite winning the Champions League on loan with Bayern Munich, he has not since captured the form that charged the early stage of Liverpool's rise, having plundered 20 goal contributions from as many matches in the half-season before La Blaugrana pounced.
The Brazil sensation joined for a paltry £8.5m in 2013, and competed 201 matches for the Reds, scoring 54 goals and providing 45 assists, before searching for pastures new, abandoning his Anfield excavation with the riches seemingly inches away from being unearthed, but such is the way of football.
Once praised as "phenomenal" by former manager Brendan Rodgers, Coutinho offered a roof-raising faculty that few players can boast, but for all his tricks and skills his sale paved the way, with Klopp then shifting for a more industrious midfield make-up to serve as the engine for frontal players such as Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane to thrive.
Szoboszlai, who has been called a "magician" by Kulig, has the whole gamut of skills to succeed the Brazilian after all these years, and indeed he looks to be a refined and upgraded version at that.
As per FBref, the 6 foot 1 machine ranks among the top 11% of midfielders across Europe's top five leagues over the past year for goals, the top 24% for assists, the top 1% for shot-creating actions, the top 9% for progressive carries, the top 6% for successful take-ons and the top 6% for blocks per 90.
The Reds were blessed by Coutinho's magic and he truly was an early catalyst under Klopp's wing, pumping attacking energy into a team starting their ascent, but his staggering sale welcomed funds that were crucially reinvested into some key positions, and it is hard to argue that he was missed, given the ensuing triumphs.
The industrious midfield that became a staple of Liverpool's success has now gone, and while Szoboszlai offers technical flair, he is still exactly the kind of unrelenting cog to charge the team to its max.
Perhaps the 36-cap Hungary captain is the closest thing to the Brazilian gem that Anfield has since seen, but his distinctive qualities put him on a pedestal of his own making, and there is every possibility that he could be a transcendent figure for years to come.