Liverpool enjoyed a relatively comfortable 5-1 win over Sparta Prague to put one foot in the Europa League quarter-finals last night.
The scoreline flattered Liverpool a little in the sense that they were all over the place defensively at times. Had Sparta been more clinical, they could have scored five themselves. In the end though, Conor Bradley’s weird own goal was the best it got for them.
The Reds on the other hand were ruthless in front of goal. With the game already well won, Dominik Szoboszlai underlined this point with a late goal to put the icing on the cake.
While probably rendering next week’s return leg at Anfield a formality, Szoboszlai also made a little slice of Liverpool history in the process.
According to statistician Michael Reid on X, the Hungarian’s strike was the 22nd scored by a substitute for the Reds this season. That’s a new record.
“Dominik Szoboszlai’s goal tonight was the 22nd by a substitute for Liverpool in all competitions this season – now the most sub goals ever for LFC in a single campaign, overtaking the 21 in 2005-06,” Reid reports. Impact.
Liverpool look to impact from the bench
This is a super little statistic which really highlights just how good Liverpool’s squad is at the moment.
In the past, Jurgen Klopp and other Reds managers simply haven’t had the firepower to call upon from the bench to change games.
We haven’t dug deeper into Reid’s assertion just yet, but you’d imagine that plenty of these impact goals have been shared amongst Liverpool’s quintet of senior forwards.
With no more than three usually starting together, the two who are left out – when everybody is fit – usually come on at some stage.
Hungry to get into the starting XI, it’s no surprise that those coming on have been desperate to make an impact. And often they have.
It’s also perhaps a result of Liverpool’s participation in the Europa League this year. As he did last night, Klopp has been able to leave some of his bigger names out of starting XI’s, only to bring them on later into the game.
Against weaker opposition on paper, this has inevitably led to those players filling their boots when they get the chance.
Liverpool’s Carabao Cup win last month already highlighted just how effective Klopp has been at using his squad this season. Here’s another piece of evidence that if the Reds do win it all this year, it’ll be because of the contributions of every single player on their roster.