Liverpool: Arne Slot explains Dominik Szoboszlai substitution as Reds close in on Premier League title | OneFootball

Liverpool’s key midfielder was taken off at half-time despite trailing against Southampton

Arne Slot has admitted that he "saw a different energy from" Dominik Szoboszlai after the Liverpool midfielder was substituted at half-time against Southampton.

However, Slot’s side made hard work of the three points.

In fact, it was revealed by Mohamed Salah that the Liverpool head coach was not happy with the first-half performance and it was quite telling that the Dutch tactician made a triple change at half-time.

Szoboszlai was among those who made way at the interval and the changes paid off as the hosts came from behind to beat the relegation-threatened Saints and open up a 16-point lead at the top of the table.

Asked about the Szoboszlai substitution, in particular, after the game, the Liverpool boss confirmed it was not injury-related, but felt the midfielder needed a rest.

“You didn't select the right game, because every time I'm sitting here and talking about Dominik, I'm talking about, 'He's a machine. He can just keep on going, running, running, running.' But it was maybe the first time this season that I saw a different energy from him, which is maybe normal,” Slot told reporters.

“Maybe I made a mistake by playing him because he gives so much every single game. Now the good thing is he only played 45 [minutes], so he's more rested for the upcoming week now than he is if I would have played him for 90.

“And the good thing for me is I have more than only one good midfielder in terms of Dominik. We have quite a few and Harvey [Elliott] came in really strong and helped the team again after him helping the team against Paris Saint-Germain.”

Dominik Szoboszlai played just 45 minutes against Southampton

Getty Images

Slot also explained that he substituted Kostas Tsimikas at half-time and Darwin Nunez later in the second half because the pair were on yellow cards and he did not want to take any risks.

“In the end I took him [Nunez] off because he was on [a] yellow but I always hate the idea, if we need to score goals, to take someone off that can score a goal,” Slot added. “That's why it wasn't in my mind to take him off because I was already planning on after these three if we don't score a goal then [Diogo] Jota needs to come in and we have to go even more offensive.

“With Cody [Gakpo] being out, it isn't like we have that many attacking options left, so that's why I took a certain risk of keeping him [on].

“A No.9 that is on [a] yellow is different than Kostas [Tsimikas]. I took Kostas out for that reason, because he was on yellow, and second of all I also knew that Robbo [Andy Robertson] always creates something with his energy, with his mentality – not only in the team but also with the fans.

“There's a reason why Macca [Alexis Mac Allister] is a World Cup winner, because he shows up when you need him in terms of mentality and that's also definitely what he brought in this second half.”