This video can be seen with full footage here.
To kick off 2026, Liverpool hosted Leeds United at Anfield.
Arne Slot made three changes to the side that beat Wolves, as Andy Robertson, Conor Bradley and Dominik Szoboszlai replaced Milos Kerkez, Federico Chiesa and Alexis Mac Allister.
Daniel Farke made four changes to the team that drew with Sunderland, seeing Sebastiaan Bornauw, James Justin, Ilia Gruev and Lukas Nmecha come in for Joe Rodon, Jayden Bogle, Noah Okafor and Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
Leeds would drop back into a 5-4-1 shape out of possession, with Brenden Aaronson moving back to the left of the midfield, allowing them to both block up the centre and maintain good defensive width.
They would however step up to press Liverpool in certain situations, such as if the Reds passed backwards, pushing up to pressure the man on the ball and cut off the short passing options. This allowed them to win back the ball in Liverpool’s half on several occasions.
They spent most of the game sitting back however, aiming to frustrate Liverpool.
Liverpool offered little to break them down though. There was the odd good passing combination, quickly moving the ball with one touch to play around Leeds before they could adjust.
Hugo Ekitiké was helpful for this, providing an option for his teammates to bounce passes off for a one-two.
These moments happened just a handful of times throughout the game though. The majority of the match was slow, plodding passing, maintaining possession but doing nothing with it.
One of the few bright spots was the right flank, where Jeremie Frimpong often looked to beat his man, and Conor Bradley would make runs forward in support of him, seeing the pair combine well on occasion.
With three centre-backs and three men in midfield, Leeds had the numbers to make it hard for Liverpool to press them, while Liverpool’s tendency to man-mark in midfield also left gaps for a forward to drop into. Having less than third of possession, Leeds’ opportunities to attack were few and far between though.
Slot made a triple substitution shortly after the hour mark, yet it was three like-for-like changes, replacing players with inferior alternatives.
The introductions of Rio Ngumoha and Chiesa brought some much-needed dynamism to the Liverpool attack, yet both sides gave the impression they could have played for another 90 minutes without scoring.
It was footballing purgatory; a match was taking place but not really. A nothing game where nothing happened.
No responses yet