Liverpool 0-0 Leeds: Match Review
Liverpool were held to a 0-0 draw against Leeds United in the Premier League at Anfield.
Arne Slot admitted that Liverpool lacked enough players inside the box as they were held to a frustrating draw in their maiden match of 2026.
The Reds had to settle for a goalless stalemate against Leeds United at Anfield. Liverpool monopolised possession, having 69 per cent of the ball, but they were toothless in the final third. Bar chances for Hugo Ekitike and Virgil van Dijk either side of half-time, the Premier League champions failed to cause any danger for Lucas Perri in the Leeds goal.
Jeremie Frimpong was lively again for Liverpool, causing the visitors’ defence problems and sending in several crosses. That was how the Reds engineered their opening goal in the 2-1 win over Wolves on December 27, with Frimpong pulling a ball back from the byline for Ryan Gravenberch.
But Slot felt that there were not enough of his troops gambling to get into dangerous areas, while Liverpool did not make their set-pieces count. The Anfield head coach said: “To score a goal against a team that's defending so well in and around their box, there are a few ways to unlock it. That is for some teams in this league, or for a lot of teams in this league, a set-piece. We were close with Virgil [van Dijk]. We got eight - unfortunately, we didn't score. Another way of unlocking it is something we saw last week against Wolves, when Jeremie Frimpong had his moment of magic, a quick one-v-one where he brought the ball in, and I think he had a few of those moments today as well.
“If you look at the bigger picture, so you forget the one-v-ones, I said to them at half-time [that] we can bring more bodies in the box than we in moments did in the first half. When we did cross, it would have been nice if there were more bodies in their box from us, not from them but from us. A lot of ball possession. I think we are the team with the most ball possession this year in the league, but ball possession means not a lot if you cannot create enough chances. To create chances against a low block you need pace, individual special moments to create an overload. You don't see a lot of 15-to-20-passes goals against low blocks.
“And another way of course of unlocking is from a counter-attack or winning the ball back high up the pitch when they want to bring the ball out from the back. But if I simply look at the second half, I think their goalkeeper almost kicked every ball long. Then when you win it, there are 11 players in front of you. Everyone, including me, wants us to go forward as fast as possible but when there are 11 players standing in front of you in and around their box, it's not so easy to find players who are free close enough to the goal. That's why it was another time - not for the first time this season - we saw a team that wanted, tried, kept trying, but it was hard for us to find an opening.”
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