Liverpool‘s winning run was brought to a grinding halt as Leeds claimed their first clean sheet since August with the new year bringing more frustration for Arne Slot’s side.
Counterpart Daniel Farke opted for pragmatism in regards to the fitness of Dominic Calvert-Lewin by dropping his in-form striker to the bench but it was his five-man defence who made the difference in a goalless draw at Anfield.
When the former Everton striker did arrive as a substitute he thought he had scored the winner with his first goal at the ground only to be denied by an offside flag.
A draw, their second in less than a month against Liverpool, extended their unbeaten run to six matches but it was felt more keenly by the hosts who could have reduced the gap to third-placed Aston Villa to four points.
Despite an encouraging performance by Jeremie Frimpong, playing in the Mohamed Salah role wide on the right, they lacked a cutting edge as, despite boasting the quick feet of fellow summer signing Florian Wirtz, they struggled to find a way to break down their organised opponents.
One of the few positives for Slot, who dispensed with set-piece coach Aaron Briggs two days ago, was not conceding from a dead-ball situation for the third successive game but that was a small crumb of comfort.
They registered 18 shots to Leeds’ four but never looked like breaking the deadlock despite Frimpong offering an attacking threat playing like an old-fashioned winger, hugging the touchline and driving to the byline.
Wirtz had an early shot blocked by James Justin after Pascal Strijk did just enough to hold off Hugo Ektike to buy his team-mate enough time.
Two crosses through the six-yard area in quick succession brought groans with no player close and the third came in so quickly from Frimpong, Ekitike could not divert it towards goal and headed onto goalkeeper Lucas Perri.
Leeds’ only chance came from a misplaced clearance from Alisson Becker which went straight to Ethan Ampadu but the goalkeeper got back between his posts to claim the returning shot.
Pressure started to build on Leeds at the start of the second half but it was not until the 60th minute that Perri was tested, and that was from distance by Dominik Szoboszlai.
There was none of the chaos of the second-half 3-3 at Elland Road, with Liverpool’s patient build-up playing into the visitors’ hands.
Anfield froze in expectation of Virgil van Dijk‘s downward header hitting the net from Szoboszlai’s corner but it bounced wide.
Former Everton striker Calvert-Lewin, in form of his career with goals in his last six matches, was given the final 20 minutes and but for an errant outstretched leg would have produced the perfect response.
