Neil Atkinson’s post-match review for The Anfield Wrap after Liverpool 0 Leeds United 0 in the 2025-2026 Premier League at Anfield…
FRUSTRATION. That about sums it up. At the end of the match, Dominik Szoboszlai is in the ear of the fourth official and Arne Slot is speaking forthrightly to the referee. They look frustrated. Anfield is frustrated.
Defensively, Liverpool are competent. At least that can be said. In a season where Konate has looked nervous at times, and Virgil van Dijk has often played with frustration, this was not one of those days.
Passes are completed, mistakes don’t open us up to total failure. And this game is about as exciting as that sounds. The presence of Andy Robertson helps defensively, with his ability not just to get himself into the right space that creates space, but also to shout back at others, somewhat solidifying an otherwise shaky Liverpool.
In front of goal, we look nervous. We look like a singer who has overprepared. Someone who has overthought how big the audience, how deep the breath requires. Ekitike is finding space and looking for all his usual spaces, but there is a lack of anyone with real fire in front of goal. Slot has set the team up defensively and we pay for that upfront.
The manager has picked a team against a promoted side at home with only one forward. He has his reasons and a key reason is he doesn’t have enough.
Leeds have come to stop Liverpool’s goal threat. No surprises in their strategy: pack the defence, massive lads in midfield, frustrate Liverpool, and bring on Dominic Calvert-Lewin to make Anfield angry and catch us out in the final quarter of the match.
Ampadu’s entertaining throw-ins at points look like they might offer Leeds an option, too. It’s a strategy that nearly pays off. As is, they get a nil-nil draw, and their fans enjoy it immensely.
There are good individual performances from Liverpool. Ekitike is not going off the boil, and no one would believe Jeremie Frimpong is coming back from injury. He plays well again. In a game where Liverpool are more attacking, have better ideas, and are quicker across the park, this would have been a great asset.
Ryan Gravenberch is similar through the middle, stridently taking on all comers. He doesn’t make loads of mistakes either, but he isn’t great in their final third. Maybe he shouldn’t be, but someone has to be.
The first-half is better than the second. The reliance on Ekitike’s natural ebullience looks like it might pay off. Wirtz also plays brighter and is much more attacking-minded than he has seemed before.
But none of this adds up to enough. This is the sort of game that you might have on the telly on some boring Sunday afternoon, and wonder why you bothered. No one stinks the place out, but no one takes hold of the match and changes the game either.
That is possibly the formation, designed to nullify the threat of a Leeds side that were always going to needle and irritate Liverpool. That is possibly the overall context, where bad decisions in previous games must weigh on the mind. Either way, it is frustrating.
Arne Slot’s substitution strategy is not entirely clear. On 66 minutes, he makes largely like-for-like switches, possibly just for fresh legs, but this doesn’t fundamentally change any equations. Bringing on Chiesa and then finally Ngumoha close to the 80th minute looks like a last ditch attempt for a moment of magic upfront.
Moments of magic do win games. A moment of magic could have won this one. But the fundamentals are not overridden. Liverpool have approached this game seeing Leeds as a threat, and whether through injury, psychology, or simple pace, we can’t rise to the challenge of not just controlling the threat, but overcoming it.
All of those things need to change. These are good players, the manager is no idiot, and Liverpool fundamentally have the resources to sort this out. The challenges coming at us are big. So we had better not let the frustration get the better of us. Get the job done.
For weeks the manager said “let’s see the table when everyone is on 19”. Due to a quirk in the league we haven’t played everyone once yet. That gets resolved Sunday. But here we are on 19.
And it isn’t good enough. If you’d been shown it on the 1st July you’d have presumed something terrible had happened.
Well.
Something utterly terrible did happen.
But it still isn’t good enough. Liverpool simply do not have enough fit, strong, physically imposing players in a season which has been defined by being fit, strong and physically imposing. This has been a series of choices to reach this point. The schedule has been unforgiving and Liverpool have not been forgiven.
Liverpool also started the season, reached the 31st August with reasonable question marks over some of the players, the very good players, they did have. Shortcomings in the market, the complete lack of preseason for Alexander Isak and the something utterly terrible that did happen meant that Liverpool had only three forwards the manager would start after the September International break. Which – when he wanted to play 4-3-3 – is a major problem when you play 7 games in 21 days.
Whatever went on with Alexis Mac Allister wasn’t allowed for. Still now he doesn’t look himself. And we know they wanted another centre-back. But wanting isn’t getting and Liverpool have suffered here accordingly.
All of this before we get to the fact that Liverpool ended up with some poor fella has to take the fall for set-pieces, before we acknowledge the manager will have had better six months than this when he looks back at his career, when some performance levels dipped too much. Even allowing for the context.
Here we are on 19. And what’s odd is that while it isn’t good enough, it isn’t actually dreadful. Liverpool now find themselves with a gap to fifth. They find themselves looking coherent albeit still not anywhere near fighting fit.
What they have all done in the last month has been to dig deep and find a pathway through the gloom to salvage a season. Liverpool have an awful lot still to play for and in the league it is best seen as the creation of gaps, getting a safety net.
Liverpool are surrounded by sides who are also finding it so difficult. The league is hard like quebracho, and Chelsea are now in turmoil, Manchester United still look short and no one catches the eye. Liverpool have two visits to the capital next two games and then that is all done, Wembley notwithstanding. Anfield should have more of its say in the second half of the year.
The job is to ensure no damage is done by this season. And then find an adventure.
Today hurt because it was so lacking in adventure and the possibility of adventure. It was hard to get into the ground. It was cold. It was miserable. It was a million miles away from something which captures the imagination. Or perhaps it captures the imagination and holds it hostage.
I don’t know about you, but I could really do with an adventure in the first half of this year. One we can get into together. Beat Fulham. Get the other side of Arsenal. Discuss our options later.
Happy new year.
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