Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville both backed Liverpool to return to winning ways against Leeds this weekend, after Wednesday's disappointing draw with Sunderland.
The Reds fell behind when Chemsdine Talbi scored in the 67th minute, but good work from Florian Wirtz led to an equalizer, via an own-goal, in the 81st minute.
The result leaves Liverpool on 22 points after 14 games – 11 points off league leader Arsenal, but just one point off the top five. Next up for the Reds is a trip to Elland Road, where Leeds will be feeling confident after recording a surprise win over Chelsea on Wednesday.
Despite that 3-1 victory for Daniel Farke's men, Carragher and Neville are backing Liverpool to claim a victory this weekend. "I think Liverpool will win, 2-0 Liverpool," Neville said, delivering his prediction on the Stick to Football podcast.
Carragher added: "Liverpool will concede won't they? Liverpool will be winning 2-0, and then Leeds will score when there's five minutes to go."
Carragher's comments prompted Neville to tweak the prediction slightly, as he agreed with Carragher's prediction that the Reds would concede. "2-1 Liverpool," Neville said.
Liverpool has conceded 35 goals in all competitions this season, with 21 of those coming in the Premier League, which means the Reds have the worst defensive record of any team inside the division's top 12 teams.
Reds center-back Virgil van Dijk has faced criticism for his performances this season, and he came in for a hammering from Liverpool legend Steve Nicol for his role in Sunderland's goal at Anfield.
Virgil van Dijk during Liverpool vs Sunderland in December 2025
Virgil van Dijk was at fault for Sunderland's goal at Anfield (Image: Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Van Dijk gave the ball away in defense and then backed away, allowing Talbi the space to shoot from distance and find the back of the net via a deflection off the Liverpool captain.
“I’ve actually not criticized Van Dijk that much this season but tonight, there is absolutely no question he has to bear a whole lot of responsibility, not just for the goal,” Nicol said on ESPN FC.
“What he did wrong, he gives the ball away, tries to play in Mac Allister who isn’t reading the pass. Okay, so what do you do when you make a mistake? You try to make up for it. In trying to make up for it he could have stepped out and closed the ball because he had Kerkez who had already come in beside him, so he didn’t need to back off. But he did.
“When he sees Talbi going to strike the ball he doesn’t step forward, he just turns sideways. What happened to make yourself big, try and get in front of the ball? He got absolutely everything wrong.”