How the national media reacted to Liverpool's 2-2 draw with Fulham as Arne Slot's side missed the chance to strengthen their top-four claims
Arne Slot during the Premier League match between Fulham and Liverpool at Craven Cottage on January 4, 2026
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Liverpool's unbeaten run now stands at nine games after a second successive draw of 2026. A last-gasp wondergoal from Harrison Reed earned Fulham a point at Craven Cottage as the Reds were held 2-2 after Cody Gakpo looked to have won it in stoppage time.
As ever, the ECHO was at the game, running the rule over proceedings with our exhaustive match-day coverage. You can read our player ratings, big-game verdict, post-match analysis and on-the-whistle reaction here. You can also find what Arne Slot and Marco Silva made of it too.
Our colleagues from the national media were also on hand to provide their own considered takes. Here's what they made of it.
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The Daily Mail's Lewis Steele writes: "Most Liverpool fans and Arne Slot would have snapped your hand off in late November if you offered them a run of nine games without defeat.
"At the time, to jog your memories, the Premier League champions had won just four in 15 matches that prompted serious questions to be asked over the head coach’s job security.
"So some credit is due to Slot and Co for fixing the leak and defensive frailties they showed through autumn. But after another dismal draw here at Fulham, we ask: can you remember a more insipid or uninspiring nine-match unbeaten streak than this one Liverpool are on?
"They are not leaking goals like they were in November – they lost 4-1 to PSV Eindhoven and 3-0 to Nottingham Forest in back-to-back games – but now look toothless in attack. OK, they scored two here, but gone are the days of teams being frightened of Liverpool.
"Daniel Farke’s Leeds, who drew at Anfield on New Year’s Day, and Fulham are both in good form and deserved their points against the Reds. But after spending £450million in the summer, Liverpool fans are right to demand more.
"One mitigating factor is that Mohamed Salah is away at the Africa Cup of Nations, while Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike are both out injured. If you were to list the Reds players you fancied to score in order, those would be top three.
"French striker Ekitike, who is their top scorer with eight goals this term, is hoping to be back fit for the trip to Arsenal on Thursday and, playing like this, Slot will be having nightmares about going to north London.
"Right now, any well-coached team picks holes in Liverpool’s plan and goes into the match fancying themselves. That is damning for Slot regardless of an injury crisis."
Miguel Delaney, of The Independent, pens: "This still does not look like a team comfortable in itself in terms of formation. It’s ill-fitting, and there were too many moments where moves were slowed down or just fell apart because the players weren’t fully attuned
"It’s just as well that Wirtz is starting to find his feet. If some of this is a consequence of Liverpool missing over £200m worth of attackers, given how the absences of Mohamed Salah and Alexander Isak were compounded by a minor injury to Hugo Ekitike, the greater concern is the pattern. Maybe even the feel.
"Liverpool seem to have a listlessness regardless of who plays right now or how. Here, for most of the game, they were too narrow and congested. With so much of the onus on the full-backs for width, it is no surprise that former Liverpool youth Harry Wilson opened the scoring from in behind Conor Bradley early on.
"Cody Gakpo’s late goal duly came from Jeremie Frimpong’s introduction and a fine cross from out wide. It is nevertheless as symbolic as it was significant that even a raucous 93rd-minute goal, that could and should have been the winner, ended up being levelled out. Liverpool can’t seem to generate any kind of momentum. Here, most of the energy only came in a 15-minute spell after Wirtz’s goal."
Over on The Mirror's pages, chief football writer John Cross reflects: "Every time Liverpool think they have turned a corner, something blows them off course. This time it was a 97th minute Goal of the Season contender from Harrison Reed which took the roof off Craven Cottage.
"It was so cruel on Liverpool who thought they had won it with Cody Gakpo ’s 95th-minute strike which would have been a precious away win for Arne Slot ’s side. But the away end was still celebrating when supersub Reed - who has only scored four goals since joining the club six years ago - unleashed his 25-yard rocket into the top corner.
"It was no more than Fulham deserved in reality but Liverpool just cannot catch a break in this bizarre rollercoaster season. Florian Wirtz had drawn them level after Harry Wilson’s opener which, up until the injury time drama, had been a game all about tight VAR margins.
"This was an opportunity to pull clear in the battle for top four - but another chance wasted in a season which has been about inconsistency and sloppiness. This time they looked weak up front with Hugo Ekitike missing through a minor injury, Mo Salah away on AFCON duty, and Alexander Isak out injured."
And on the ECHO's pages, the verdict reads: "In the search to find an accurate assessment of the latest leg of the most unconvincing unbeaten streak in years, Arne Slot might find that this was a game that encapsulated Liverpool’s entire Premier League term.
"For large portions it was drab, lacking in imagination and a difficult watch. There was the odd moment of magic to cherish and a sucker punch or two to deal with in the process. All perfectly in-keeping with the trials and tribulations of 25/26 then.
"Liverpool won't concede another goal as sublime this season as the effort from Harrison Reed that earned a point for Marco Silva's side. And the fact that the substitute had only been on the pitch a matter of seconds and hadn't scored for nearly three years only added to the sheer ridiculousness of the 30-yard effort that made it 2-2.
"But, deep down, this was no hard luck story for the Reds, who paid for a tired performance by being pegged back at the death after it looked like Cody Gakpo was sending the away end home in delirium.
"The unbeaten sequence continues and, in all likelihood, the inconsistency of Manchester United and Chelsea means the Reds should have enough to ensure their name is in the draw for next season’s Champions League. But the dollops of the ordinary are starting to be served up in copious amounts.
"Intensity, as the old saying went, was once their identity. What exactly are Liverpool in 2026?"