The Paul Gorst verdict from Anfield as Liverpool are forced to settle for a frustrating 0-0 draw at home to Leeds United in the Premier League
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - JANUARY 01: Hugo Ekitike of Liverpool appears dejected after the final whistle of the Premier League match between Liverpool and Leeds United at Anfield on January 01, 2026 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Hugo Ekitike appears dejected after the final whistle of the Premier League match between Liverpool and Leeds United at Anfield on January 01, 2026
View Image
The bare statistics of this one will say Liverpool were able to extend an unbeaten run to eight games. But, like the 3-3 draw with the same opponents just a few weeks ago, this goalless affair with Leeds United will feel like a defeat.
How could it not? Having seen third-place Aston Villa swatted aside at Arsenal and Chelsea drop points and then sack their manager this week, the opportunity to move further from fifth and closer to third went begging here.
And it is entirely fair to ask, as the momentum built by a solid if unspectacular - or hugely convincing run - is now halted, when are performances are going to become more fulsome from this eye-wateringly expensive squad?
Author avatar
Author avatar
The sound of the full-time whistle was greeted by noise in the away ends of marching on together and it was a precious point that was understandably treated like a victory for Daniel Farke's side.
The fact they have taken two from the Premier League champions upon their return to the top flight says a lot about the troubling inability to piece together complete displays by Arne Slot's team. Has there been one befitting of champion status this season in fact?
Leeds were untroubled for the majority here. A few forlorn penalty shouts aside, the Reds once more looked like a side struggling to match their defensive durability with a know-how in the final third. And with Alexander Isak out for the foreseeable, Mohamed Salah at the Africa Cup of Nations and a returning Cody Gakpo nowhere the levels of last season, it has to be a huge concern for Slot that he is without genuine match-winners now.
Hugo Ekitike has had a fine start to Liverpool life but if the France international endures an off-day, there is little help it seems.
Seventeen-year-old Rio Ngumoha and the unfancied Federico Chiesa were sent on to help here but Lucas Perri was not overextended in the Leeds goal and, with two huge trips to London to come now at Fulham and league leaders Arsenal, a decent December could be undermined in the Reds' efforts to secure at least a top-four spot.
A largely incident free first-half saw Liverpool dominate but they lacked the necessary guile at the key point of attacks. Jeremie Frimpong, restored to a wide forward position with Conor Bradley behind him, was the hosts' most threatening player with his blistering pace causing problems for Farke’s side.
Ekitike spurned the best opportunity when he somehow headed backwards from Frimpong's cross inside the six-yard box, hitting Leeds goalkeeper Perri in the head in the process with the goal gaping. It was sort of highlight Ekitike won't want to see again but there have been very few of those since his move from Eintracht Frankfurt in the summer, in full fairness.
Frimpong then gave another example of his searing speed later in the half when the diminutive Dutchman left Pascal Struijk for dead only to see his inviting cut-back surprisingly miscontrolled by Florian Wirtz, who conceded a foul in his efforts to atone. It was that kind of game.
Wirtz tired as the game wore on and it was no surprise to see him replaced by Gakpo in the second half. The impetus that was evident in the opening 20 minutes had evaporated by that point and the players were unable to rise above the concerns on the terraces as the groans and the moans grew louder. Their complaints were justified.
In home games this season against Nottingham Forest, Sunderland, Wolves, and now Leeds, the champions have generated just four of what Opta define as ‘big chances’ in total. Tightening up has clearly come at a cost in the final third and the entertainment levels have plummeted.
It's difficult now, even as the second half of the term gets underway, to accurately articulate or define what Liverpool's style is. For all the money spent reshaping a title-winning squad, that has to fall on head coach Slot.
The Reds mustered just one shot on target in the second period, which came from Dominik Szoboszlai’s long-range effort and the sight of Ekitike, the only striker available for Slot, wide on the right attempting to find the room to cross in the 96th for everyone else waiting summed it up. Too often the No.22 moves away from the sort of areas where striker’s feast and it is an aspect of his game he needs to study as he gets set to lead the line for the coming months.
But while 0-0 draw is hardly terminal for Champions League ambitions, perhaps the most worrying aspect of all is the idea that Liverpool are way past their worst period of the campaign and this is actually just their level for now. It is a sobering thought for those beginning dry January at least.