Liverpool Player Ratings vs. Leeds: Slot Pained to Be Proven Right

Liverpool kicked off 2026 in the most underwhelming way imaginable.

Arne Slot pointed to Liverpool’s issues pregame. / Liverpool FC/Getty Images

Liverpool were held to an insipid goalless draw at home to Leeds United on New Year’s Day, struck down by a desperately underwhelming performance which underscored Arne Slot’s concerns about the club’s squad depth.

Ahead of Thursday’s clash with the newly promoted outfit, Slot moaned that injuries have hampered his ability to change games with substitutions—which was a defining feature of last season’s Premier League title triumph.

The Dutch boss emptied his bench at Anfield, bringing on a World Cup winner, £40 million ($53.8 million) summer recruit and this season’s second top scorer, but couldn’t force a breakthrough.

The fans that suffered through to the final whistle were unimpressed with the listless showing which left Liverpool in fourth place, 12 points adrift of league-leading Arsenal. Leeds’ travelling contingent, by comparison, were content with a battling draw that opened up a seven-point cushion above the relegation zone.

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Liverpool Player Ratings vs. Leeds (4-2-3-1)

Liverpool began the year at home to Leeds. / Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC/Getty Images

*Rating provided by FotMob*

GK: Alisson—8.0: Going in search of his 100th Premier League clean sheet, Alisson did his best to end that hunt early in the first half with a wayward pass. He was largely untroubled thereafter.

RB: Conor Bradley—7.1: Combined well with the natural fullback in front of him.

CB: Ibrahima Konaté—7.9: It was against Leeds just three weeks ago that Slot memorably lamented Konaté’s tendency to find himself “at the crime scene.” The Liverpool defender was the one with the handcuffs for much of the contest before Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s arrival reduced him back to the unconvincing figure of weeks gone by.

CB: Virgil van Dijk—7.4: Sprayed the ball from flank to flank with the nonchalance which defined Liverpool’s performance.

LB: Andy Robertson—7.0: Almost entirely untroubled by James Justin in a defensive sense, Robertson set about pinning the wingback into Leeds’ defensive third.

CM: Ryan Gravenberch—7.6: Swapping positions with Curtis Jones in an attempt to tease apart the tight stitching of Leeds’ rearguard without much success. Mopped up off the ball with more joy.

CM: Curtis Jones—7.1: Never far away from doing his best impression of Rio de Janeiro’s “Christ the Redeemer” statue while in search of possession, when Jones’s outstretched arms were rewarded with the ball he quickly got rid of it.

AM: Dominik Szoboszlai—7.0: Restored to his theoretically favoured attacking midfield role, Szoboszlai’s insistence on roaming all over the pitch actually forced one of his least effective displays of the season.

RW: Jeremie Frimpong—6.9: Preferred to Federico Chiesa in the absence of Mohamed Salah, Frimpong swiftly set about justifying his selection with an enterprising display down the right flank. The chances he created went unfinished.

ST: Hugo Ekitiké—6.4: The closest Liverpool player to making an attacking difference, Ekitiké’s honesty perhaps let him down in the first half when he didn’t appeal for a penalty.

LW: Florian Wirtz—6.9: Whatever confidence he may have earned from the end of his goal drought five days earlier appeared to have evaporated already. The only argument about his substitution was that it didn’t come earlier.

Substitute	Rating (Out of 10)
Milos Kerkez (66’ for Robertson)	6.6
Alexis Mac Allister (66’ for Jones)	6.3
Cody Gakpo (66’ for Wirtz)	6.0
Federico Chiesa (79’ for Bradley)	6.0
Rio Ngumoha (84’ for Frimpong)	N/A

Subs not used: Giorgi Mamardashvili (GK), Calvin Ramsay, Wellity Lucky, Trey Nyoni.

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Leeds (5-4-1)

Starting XI: Lucas Perri; James Justin, Sebastiaan Bornauw, Jaka Bijol, Pascal Struijk, Gabriel Gudmundsson; Anton Stach, Ethan Ampadu, Ilia Gruev, Brenden Aaronson; Lucas Nmecha.

Subs used: Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Noah Okafor, Jayden Bogle, Ao Tanaka.

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Player of the match: Lucas Perri (Leeds)

Liverpool player of the match: Alisson

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Liverpool 0–0 Leeds: How It Unfolded at Anfield

Hugo Ekitiké (left) and Florian Wirtz had the game’s first big chances. / Liverpool FC/Getty Images

Unlike Enzo Maresca, both Liverpool and Leeds bounded into the new year on a high. Neither club had tasted defeat since November and boasted two strikers in “red-hot form,” to borrow Daniel Farke’s expression.

However, while Leeds’ boss benched Dominic Calvert-Lewin with one eye on Sunday’s clash with Manchester United, Slot once again turned to Hugo Ekitiké. The Frenchman with five goals from his previous four Premier League games endured an eventful, if unsuccessful, quest for another.

Ekitiké was hauled to the turf within the opening 15 minutes by the forever handsy Jaka Bijol. Referee Chris Kavanagh ignored the cries for a foul, allowing play to proceed long enough to see Florian Wirtz fire a limp effort into James Justin’s shin.

Liverpool’s leading scorer had managed to extricate himself from the grasp of Bijol shortly after the half-hour mark. In an attempt to divert Jeremie Frimpong’s firm cross towards goal, Ekitiké conspired to spoon a header wildly wide of the target. It was more of a clearance than a shot.

Leeds got plenty of bodies in front of the ball. / Liverpool FC/Getty Images

Slot would soon wistfully wish for the frustration of those early wasted chances as a shockingly lacklustre second half unfolded. Liverpool continued to fire off a flurry of shots, but that was almost entirely by Leeds’ design. The visitors were quite content to sit back in their 5-4-1 block, a mass of fabric and flesh that gradually grew in confidence.

Such was the underwhelming nature of Liverpool’s attacking resolve, Slot made a triple change with a quarter of the contest left to play. Wirtz was among the three substitutes to make way after a painfully ineffective outing, though any number of figures in red could have been justifiably hooked.

The substitutions didn’t offer much to suggest they should have started. Alexis Mac Allister scarcely had a touch of consequence while Kerkez and Gakpo offered as little threat down the left as Wirtz had before them.

While Liverpool could point to little more than a wayward header from an unmarked Virgil van Dijk at a corner, Leeds were swiftly revitalised by the introduction of Noah Okafor and the in-form Calvert-Lewin, who had a poke over the line rightly ruled out for offside.

Much to Slot’s undoubted chagrin, there was no spark to be found in the starting XI or on the bench as Liverpool got 2026 off to the most underwhelming start imaginable.

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Liverpool vs. Leeds Half-Time Stats

Statistic	Liverpool	Leeds
Possession	66%	34%
Expected Goals (xG)	1.53	0.52
Total Shots	9	2
Shots on Target	3	2
Big Chances	1	0
Passing Accuracy	88%	74%
Fouls Committed	4	3
Corners	2	2

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Liverpool vs. Leeds Full Time Stats

Statistic	Liverpool	Leeds
Possession	69%	31%
Expected Goals (xG)	1.96	0.68
Total Shots	19	4
Shots on Target	4	2
Big Chances	1	0
Passing Accuracy	87%	66%
Fouls Committed	10	8
Corners	8	3

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