Erling Haaland reveals private exchange with Dominik Szoboszlai as Anfield reunion awaits
There are certain fixtures on the calendar that seem to write their own drama, but whenever Dominik Szoboszlai sees Manchester City on the horizon, you just know we are in for a total rollercoaster.
When Enzo Maresca brings his side onto the Anfield turf this Sunday, all eyes will naturally fall on Erling Haaland as City’s main threat but for Szoboszlai, this fixture carries a level of personal history, friendship, and underlying point-to-prove intensity that very few others can match.
Every time these two sides collide, something extraordinary seems to happen around our Hungarian midfielder. Cast your mind back to that chaotic afternoon at Anfield back in February 2026.
Having put in a heroic, selfless shift as a makeshift right-back during a grueling opening half, it was Szoboszlai who sent the Kop into raptures with a quarter of an hour remaining, swerving home a thunderous, ridiculous free-kick from distance to break the deadlock.
What followed, though, was absolute madness. Ten minutes later, Szoboszlai was fractionally late stepping up, inadvertently playing Bernardo Silva onside as the former City skipper latched onto an Erling Haaland knockdown to equalise.
Then came deep stoppage time. A Haaland penalty put City 2-1 ahead three minutes into injury time, leaving Alisson Becker to charge upfield for a desperate late corner.
With the net left completely unguarded, Rayan Cherki pinged the ball over the top from the halfway line. Haaland gave chase, flanked by a backtracking Reds defense. Szoboszlai sprinted back, tussled back and forth with his close friend, and watched as the ball slowly crossed over the line.
City celebrated, but a VAR review saw referee Craig Pawson rule that Szoboszlai’s shirt-pull on Haaland constituted a denial of a goalscoring opportunity. The goal was wiped out, a free-kick awarded, and Szoboszlai was shown a straight red card.
Speaking to Viaplay ahead of Sunday's clash, Haaland looked back on that wild tangle with his former RB Salzburg teammate with a grin, revealing the cheeky banter exchanged between the pair afterwards:
"He should not have pulled me down, he should just let me go and score. I think that would be the best. I told him just give me the goal. I also told him I was faster than him because you could see that in the game as well. It was a funny situation and in the end a crazy game, and for us an amazing game."
Now, if there is one thing we all know about Dominik Szoboszlai, it is that he is fiercely, almost obsessively competitive. Hearing his mate joke about being faster than him is only going to pour pure fuel onto the fire ahead of Sunday.
This fixture has always held a special significance for the 25-year-old. It was at the Etihad during the title-winning 2024/25 campaign under former head coach Arne Slot where Szoboszlai scored and assisted in a monumental 2-0 win famously ending the match prone on the pitch, entirely spent from sheer exhaustion.
He was the beating heart of our championship triumph that year, proving to be a rare shining light during a difficult title defence where he answered every call, covering virtually every position required.
Following Slot's sacking in the summer, Andoni Iraola's arrival has brought a tactical refresh, and Szoboszlai's brief has been refined. Rather than roaming across the pitch, Szoboszlai who was rightly handed the vice-captaincy behind Virgil van Dijk over the summer is primarily competing for one of the two double-pivot engine room roles behind Florian Wirtz.
It shows what it takes to wear the shirt the total commitment, the resilience after a setback, and the drive to go toe-to-toe with the very best.
There would be no better time for Liverpool midfielder to settle an old score, put his mate back in his place, and deliver another masterclass on the red side of Merseyside.
