By Mohammed Zouak

Disappointing was, is and should undoubtedly be an understatement to the performance of our Anfield boys today as Liverpool missed out a chance to narrow the gap on third-placed Aston Villa to three points after their goalless draw against 16th placed Leeds United.

During the first half, Liverpool dominated possession but to no avail, nothing to show for; calls for a foul and a potential penalty on Hugo Ekitike as he was constantly held and had his shirt pulled by Leeds United’s Jaka Bijol, in his charge towards the Leeds goal initiated Liverpool’s opportunity to grab the first goal but a brief VAR check was quickly cleared by referee Chris Kavanagh who allowed play to continue.

Alisson Becker almost gifted Leeds United a new year’s present after his trivela pass to Curtis Jones was gifted to Leeds skipper Ethan Ampadu whose low-struck effort did not punish the Brazilian and Alisson was the most relieved man in the stadium Liverpool best chance of the half came a minute later after Alisson’s avoidable act when Jeremih Frimpong’s delivery found Hugo Ekitike, only for him to inadvertently divert the ball away from goal.

For the remainder of the first half and the two additional minutes of stoppage time, Liverpool held the majority of possession but not any genuine chances to break the deadlock.

Credits - Getty Images

With Arne Slot failing to introduce fresh legs to change the context of the game at the start of the second Half, Liverpool’s domination of possession but with no end product continued to dominate the remainder of the game, Dominik Szoboszlai came close to giving the Reds hope with his effort outside the box but was saved by Leeds goalkeeper Lucas Perri before Ethan Ampadu’s handball outside the penalty area gifted Liverpool a golden opportunity to break the deadlock seconds after.

 Florian Wirtz’s set-piece effort was hit straight at the Leeds wall another opportunity gone away. Liverpool had their best chance of the second half and possibly the whole game when a set-piece allowed an unmarked Virgil Van Dijk to head the ball wide as he shook his head in disappointment after a true golden opportunity arrived for Liverpool to break the deadlock with only twenty minutes left until the end of the game.

The Reds who kept trying to break the deadlock nearly had their hearts broken on the 80th minute when former Everton striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin almost netted his ninth goal of this Premier League campaign after the flick on by Leeds’s Sebastiaan Bournauw, but the goal was nullified as Calvert-Lewin was just fractions offside as his right leg was the only matter in question that allowed the offside decision to stand with very little involvement from the VAR.

Liverpool’s golden boy Rio Ngumoha’s introduction in the 84th minute provided a glimmer of hope but it was not meant to be and Liverpool began the new year with a disastrous, deflating draw at Anfield.

Credits - Anfield Index

Liverpool remain in fourth place with 33 points, three points above Chelsea. The Reds travel to London to play Fulham at Craven Cottage. Tom Cairney rescued a point for The Cottagers who drew to Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park earlier today. Liverpool’s race for a top four finish is very much in their hands.