"We haven’t had that since Steven Gerrard" - Jamie Carragher lavishes praise on 'brilliant' Liverpool midfielder 

Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher has heaped praise on Dominik Szoboszlai, likening him to club legend Steven Gerrard.

The Reds triggered Szboszlai's €70 million release clause to sign him from RB Leipzig in the summer. The 22-year-old has been fantastic for them in 10 appearances across competitions and also contributed two goals.

In an interview with ECHO, Carragher hailed Szoboszlai's creativity, running power, and physicality. He said:

“Szoboszlai looks brilliant. He looks almost like one of the best players and if he wasn’t playing in a game, you would really miss him."

"It’s not just his creativity or his shooting ability, it is his physical impact: the pace and power he has got in terms of the ground he covers and the challenges he is involved in. If he doesn’t have his best game with the ball, he is still having a huge impact."

Carragher also spoke about the balance of the Reds' midfield over the years and praised the current midfield's work ethic and creativity. He said:

"There was always that balance with Liverpool and the last midfield was always talked about as being hard-working with a little bit of talent, which I don’t think was right. They were very skilled players."

He also said:

"But this new midfield is probably seen as more creative, but they have got great work ethic as well. They will be described as a completely different midfield, and they are slightly different from what we’ve had before, but is more exciting and flashy on the eye when you’re seeing Szoboszlai hitting shots from outside the box."

Carragher also likened Szoboszlai's traits to club legend Gerrard but admitted that he still has a long way to go in terms of reaching the Englishman's level:

"We haven’t had that since Steven Gerrard, hence the comparisons. There is a little way for him to go to reach that level, but it looks like Liverpool have done really good business in that area."

Gerrard spent over 17 years at Liverpool, contributing 186 goals and 157 assists in 710 games. He helped them win one UEFA Champions League trophy and two FA Cups, among other honors.

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Liverpool's impressive start to this season

The Reds have had an excellent start to the 2023-24 season, having won nine of their 10 games across competitions so far.

They began their campaign with a 1-1 draw at Chelsea and then went on to win seven straight games across competitions. They were then beaten 2-1 at Tottenham Hotspur last week but bounced back to beat Union Saint-Gilloise in the UEFA Europa League.

Liverpool are currently fourth in the Premier League table, four points behind leaders Tottenham with a game in hand. They sit atop their Europa League group, two points above Toulouse, and have advanced to the EFL Cup fourth round as well.

The Merseysiders will next face Brighton & Hove Albion at the Amex in the Premier League on Sunday, October 8.