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Dominik Szoboszlai of Liverpool(Image: Nick Taylor/Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

The news of Liverpool's behind-closed-doors friendly on Sunday afternoon caught most unaware.

The surprise, though, was nothing compared to when the starting line-up emerged from the match against Championship side Stoke City at the AXA Training Centre in Kirkby.

While there was excitement at Florian Wirtz making his first appearance as a Reds player and intrigue over Rio Ngumoha being given another start on the left flank, attention was suddenly piqued by the sight of Dominik Szoboszlai at right-back.

With Jeremie Frimpong and Conor Bradley both lining up down the flank in the second-half team and Curtis Jones, who started several games at right-back last season, in midfield, it was very much a case of needs must for Liverpool boss Arne Slot.

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But it raised a question that has lingered since the Reds splashed out a club record £116million to sign Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen last month.

When Slot took over from Jurgen Klopp as Reds boss last summer, one of his first tasks was to simplify the expected roles of his squad.

Szoboszlai found himself in competition with Harvey Elliott for the new number 10 role as Liverpool switched from the 4-3-3 preferred by Klopp to what ostensibly has proven a 4-2-3-1 formation.

That Elliott had to wait until after the Premier League title was secured with four games remaining to make his first top-flight start of the campaign highlights how Szoboszlai was the undoubted winner of that battle.

The arrival of Wirtz has changed all that.

As well as casting doubt over Elliott's long-term future at the club - the 22-year-old continues to be courted by several suitors - it is also threatening Szoboszlai's role as a regular starter he has effectively acquired since being snapped up from RB Leipzig for £60m two years ago.

Not that Szoboszlai isn't ready to roll up his sleeves.

"I don’t give up my place that easily, getting into a Premier League-winning team takes work.

“It’s likely that they won’t keep him on the bench, but then we have to find the opportunity for the two of us to play together.”

Featuring at right-back for that to happen was undoubtedly not what Szoboszlai had in mind, despite having a hand in two of Liverpool's goals in a 5-0 thumping of Stoke.

But the versatility he has shown throughout his Reds career is likely to be his main strength this coming season.

Last season, the Hungary skipper twice started as one of two advanced number 10s - Liverpool began with no recognised striker - and also played in a number of roles in the midfield three under Klopp.

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And while continuing to be an option in the more advanced engine room role this coming season, Szoboszlai may be more greater utilised as an alternative in one of the two deeper midfield positions - where he impressed at Brighton in May - with more rotation expected of Ryan Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister.

The Asia tour games against AC Milan on Saturday and Yokohama F Marinos the following Wednesday offer the latest opportunities for Slot to tinker with his line-ups and explore ways of allowing Wirtz and Szoboszlai to operate in the same line-up.

But if Szoboszlai has proven anything during his Liverpool career, it's that he's ready for any challenge.