Liverpool 0-0 Leeds United
by Gene Sylvester
at Anfield

THE first round of fixtures in 2026 saw a New Year’s Day dead rubber played out between Liverpool and Leeds United as the Yorkshire club once again frustrated Arne Slot’s men to earn themselves a 0-0 draw at Anfield.

The game was bereft of the action-packed drama that saw these two teams play out a 3-3 draw at Elland Road at the beginning of December, but Daniel Farke will not care one iota about that as his boys celebrated their first clean sheet since the end of August.

The draw extended Leeds’ unbeaten run in the league to six games, allowing them to open up a seven-point gap between themselves and 18th place West Ham which helped warm the travelling Leeds faithful on what was a blisteringly cold evening on Merseyside.

The home side started brightly enough with some good exchanges between the front players and in the 10th minute Hugo Ekitike warmed the hands of Leeds keeper Lucas Perri with a left-footed strike on the angle after he dinked inside his marker to create the shooting opportunity.

The French international’s shot lacked power, even though Perri was still unable to hold onto the ball and needed his teammate Jaka Bijol to intervene and clear, preventing Florian Wirtz from having an easy tap in.

In the 13th minute, a long punt into the night sky from Ibrahima Konate saw Ekitike show great strength to hold off Bijol as the ball bounced towards the Leeds penalty area.

Bijol’s attempted slide to get something on the ball was in vain, with Ekitike bringing the ball under his spell and squaring to Wirtz for what looked like a simple finish, but a last ditch challenge from Leeds defender James Justin blocked the German’s first time attempt at goal, clearing the danger.

The away side found it difficult to create any meaningful opportunities in the first half, but Alisson Becker almost gave them a belated Christmas gift as an attempted pass into Curtis Jones in midfield was pounced on by Leeds captain Ethan Ampadu.

The Welsh midfielder intercepted the pass 35 yards out, but his first time shot at goal lacked power and Alisson was able to recover to save comfortably.

Liverpool’s best chance of the game fell to the Ekitike in the 32nd minute of the game after Jeremie Frimpong cut inside from the right and drilled a left-footed cross across the face of the goal which completely took the Leeds keeper out of the equation.

The in-form French striker had an empty net to nod into but mistimed his header, sending it back across the goal with the ball coming off Perri’s head and away from danger.

The second half was void of many big chances as Liverpool struggled to breakdown a stubborn Leeds defence, but a 69th-minute Dominik Szoboslai corner found Virgil Van Dijk unmarked on the penalty spot with the big dutchman heading wide of the upright.

Liverpool boss Slot was quick to highlight his side’s lack of chances after the game.

“I think we are the team to have the most ball possession in the league this season, but this means nothing if we are not creating chances.”

Leeds boss Farke also referenced the home side’s possession, but felt his team’s hard work kept Liverpool at bay.

“We didn’t allow them clearcut chances and allowed them possession in areas where they couldn’t really hurt us. The boys deserve lots of praise.”