Liverpool 0-0 Leeds United: Final Third Flatness Halts Reds’ Momentum

Liverpool were held to a 0-0 draw by Leeds United at Anfield on New Year’s Day, a result that leaves the Premier League champions in waiting frustrated and sitting fourth as the calendar flips to 2026. For all their control, their edge, incision and punchline were missing, emphasising a familiar truth in football, dominance without disruption is just decoration.

The stalemate ended Liverpool’s four match winning streak across all competitions, but stretched their unbeaten sequence to eight, a neat statistical footnote that barely softened the mood inside L4. Daniel Farke’s Leeds United arrived with a plan rooted in structure, survival and selective pressure, and executed it to the point of irritation, if not admiration.

Van Dijk: Liverpool ‘Not Great’ Where It Matters

Captain Virgil van Dijk didn’t dress up the verdict. Speaking to Liverpoolfc.com, he was candid, direct and refreshingly light on spin.

“I think we didn’t create enough chances to deserve a win,” he said. “Obviously Leeds defended well but I think we should have done better. I think we were not great in our last part of our game, and then obviously it’s key to make sure that we don’t concede and we did that well.

“But we want to do much better in the last part of our game what we can do as well. It was one of those nights and we can’t dwell on it too long.

“Obviously the intentions are clear, we want to do it, but unfortunately it didn’t happen and now we have to focus on a trip to London what will be very, very difficult as well.”

No deflection, no dilution, just an honest assessment that Liverpool’s forward play lacked the variety and velocity to make Leeds United fold.

Patience Without Precision Against Leeds United

Liverpool had territory, tempo and tactical clarity under Arne Slot, now entering 18 months in the job after winning the Premier League in his debut season of 2024/25. What they didn’t have against Leeds United was the final pass, final action and final idea that turns control into consequence.

They did generate openings. The clearest arrived shortly after the half hour, when Jeremie Frimpong fizzed a cross into the corridor of uncertainty, begging for a connection.

“Perhaps the closest they came to scoring was just past the half-hour mark, when Hugo Ekitike was unable to head a fiercely hit Jeremie Frimpong cross on target from close range.”

It was symptomatic. Near enough to feel threatening, not clean enough to be clinical.

Van Dijk expanded on the tactical challenge of cracking a deep defensive block.

“I think you have to stay patient, even if you want to go at them in possession as quickly as possible, go at their last line as quickly as possible,” he said.

“But the spaces are not always there [and] you have to create these spaces, you have to play side to side, you keep them on one side and switch to the other side.

“You have to do all these things that we know we can do and we’ve shown, but unfortunately our last part of our game wasn’t good enough.”

Liverpool moved the ball, but not the opponent. Leeds United shifted, but rarely stretched, leaving the Reds circulating possession without conjuring the chaos required to score.

Fulham Next: Recovery Key for Liverpool

The fixture list offers no pause for pity. Liverpool now head to Fulham on Sunday, a rapid reset that demands physical care as much as tactical recalibration.

“Obviously that’s the responsibility that we have as Liverpool players in our position,” Van Dijk said.

“You have to look after yourself, sleep well, eat well, rest up and do the right treatments and recovery regime in order to be ready, and then we go again and that’s part of life.”

Slot’s side will expect a sharper final third showing in London. Leeds United earned their point, Liverpool will feel they misplaced two more.