**Liverpool opened 2026 with a rare goalless draw against Leeds United.**
The reigning Premier League champions had plenty of changes but ultimately failed to make them count against their resolute Yorkshire counterparts.
Arne Slot’s side remain fourth in the table after only their third stalemate of the current campaign as the top flight officially reached its midway stage.
_Here were the key talking points from Anfield:_
New year, same old problems
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The start of a new calendar year may have offered Liverpool hopes of turning the page but they remain stuck on the same chapter from their 2025 book.
Arne Slot’s side spurned the opportunity to make it five straight victories with Leeds’ visit in a game that, on paper at least, they looked the likelier to win.
A first goalless draw in the Dutchman’s 84 games at the Anfield helm will be remembered more for its anomaly than the performance which garnered it.
To say the Reds were slow on the uptake against Leeds’ low block would be an understatement; they were ponderous and at worst, totally devoid of ideas.
A smattering of boos which greeted the final whistle suggests Slot is far from out of the woods with some match-going Kopites despite a majority backing.
With unenviable trips to Fulham and Arsenal on the horizon in the next week, the Liverpool head coach should have at least sought to set down a marker.
Instead, it posed more questions than answers about the next direction of travel in a season which has already been a rollercoaster at its midway point.
Speed demons deserve to shine
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Liverpool’s best hopes of unlocking Daniel Farke’s stubborn backline did not lie with Hugo Ekitike, who endured a rare off night in the bleak midwinter.
Effective though the France international’s debut campaign in England has been, a gilt-edged header straight at Lucas Perri summed up his evening.
Their real threat came from Jeremie Frimpong and latterly Rio Ngumoha.
Frimpong’s start to life on Merseyside has been blighted by persistent injury with only his third Premier League start coming against the Yorkshire outfit.
But he is showcasing the qualities that saw him signed as a cross between Mohamed Salah’s stand-in and Trent Alexander-Arnold’s replacement.
Gravitating between the two roles, as he did in this languid encounter, the Dutchman offered a rare spark to a team which was lacking in its overall play.
Ngumoha, too, put Leeds’ defence in a fluster with his late cameo that saw pacy bursts complimented by twists and turns which had Anfield on its feet.
An early exposure to the spotlight has done little to dampen the 17-year-old’s confidence and he, as much as Frimpong, deserves a window to shine again.
Set piece stigma not over yet
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Aaron Briggs’ departure as Liverpool set piece coach earlier this week became an inevitable consequence of the key failings in his jurisdiction.
In fairness, the 38-year-old was not originally hired for such expertise; he was promoted just two months from joining as an individual performance coach.
But Briggs fell on his sword after Slot’s side shipped a league-high 12th goals from set pieces with Wolves proving the final straw for Anfield’s top brass.
In his absence, the interim responsibilities now fall to the man in the dugout as well as his assistants Sipke Hulshoff and Giovanni van Bronckhorst.
Early indications suggest that collegiate approach, against a Leeds team hovering above the relegation zone, may be the right course of action.
What susceptibility the tactic posed to Liverpool in the final months of 2025 has not gone away yet they appeared better equipped to handle the threat.
They are, however, no closer to ending the dismal record in front of goal which also formed part of the decision to dispense with Briggs’ services.
A tentative first step towards recalibrating the set piece stigma is welcomed but it would be premature to say that the recent exit is a cure to all its ills.