Dominik Szoboszlai explains what Liverpool is 'missing' with Champions League admission

There is little doubt that in recent times, the Liverpool locker room will have felt even more down than it did following the Reds' draw with Sunderland. Dominik Szoboszlai, though, is keen to point out that no one felt particularly joyous after more dropped points.

After heavy home defeats to Nottingham Forest and PSV, and Liverpool's worst run of results in 70 years, coming from behind midweek to salvage a point was a small positive. That it was the first time this season that the Reds have earned a point having conceded first tells its own story.

Even after such a tricky spell, however, Liverpool is only two points off the Champions League places. With Arsenal looking impossible to catch, Arne Slot's men have to ensure they get back into UEFA's top competition as a minimum.

"Right now, I think we should focus first on us, and not on the top four," Szoboszlai told reporters ahead of this weekend's trip to Elland Road. "I think there is a long way to go. We have seen many, many comebacks in the history of the Premier League.

"But first of all, we have to focus on us, game by game. First we have to win games and then we can talk about anything else, but the most important thing is getting the three points over the line.

"It doesn't matter how. We could do it at the weekend [against West Ham] but we couldn't do it [against Sunderland]. But the good thing in the Premier League is we have so many games. Saturday, we can go again and try again.

"It is not going to be easy because Leeds have a great team. They won against Chelsea and they are full of motivation. But yeah, we have to give our best."

After the draw with Sunderland, Szoboszlai was clearly disappointed. The results, he says, are something that he takes personally.

"It is important to me," Hungary's captain explains. "It is something that as a Liverpool player, we shouldn't be accepting to be in this situation, to draw at home.

"Sunderland have a great team, of course, but if we were in the same situation last year, there is no way we would lose points at home. That is what we are missing now, I think.

"We have to get back to winning ways, but there is a lot of work to do. I try and we try our best every game. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

"When you are not winning games, the confidence obviously goes down a little bit. But I think we are professional enough to get confidence even from your own mind or from somebody else.

"We talk to each other and give each other confidence during the games and during the sessions and once it clicks then hopefully nobody can stop us."

This season, things have perhaps gone against Liverpool at times. In a run like this, it often feels like every little detail isn't going your way. Szoboszlai says he was expecting things to be much more difficult than last season, though.

"I think that was obvious because everyone wants to win against the champions," he says. "We came into the season knowing we would like to do it again.

"Don't get me wrong, we are not here to lose. We want to be as smooth as possible, but sometimes it doesn't work.

"Sometimes they find a solution to play against us and they find out how they can hurt us — play long balls, win second balls, getting dirty, crosses, set-pieces, long throw-ins, whatever.

"That is what we have to find solutions and answers for. Everything has to change a little bit and then it's going to be alright. There's ups and downs. In the first season, we won the Premier League. Now, there are situations we have to find a solution for.

"[Slot] will find a solution, but it is not only him. It is also us players because we are on the pitch. He can give the structure and the ideas. Even if they are good, we have to give our best and that is what we try to do every game."

Behind the scenes, Szoboszlai says the whole Liverpool team is working hard to put things right, even the process will take some time.

"That is what we are trying to do," he says. "That is what we are working on every day, trust me. When you wake up in the morning, your head is like 'Let's find a solution to win on the weekend or during the week'.

"That is what we are trying to do but somehow, it doesn't work out as well as we would like. That's football. That's why we love football. Sometimes it is hard, but hard times make you stronger."