Leeds United 1-1 Liverpool: Reds Bottle Another Opportunity to Go Fourth In Shadow of Protests

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This game was one of the stranger ones to have been played in recent memory. It almost seemed futile for this game to go ahead after the drama that had erupted in the football world over the past two days. Liverpool travelled to Elland Road to face a Leeds side who were coming off the back of a shock 2-1 away victory at champions-elect Manchester City, but due to the Reds' upturn in form in the Premier League over the last few games, a positive result was to be expected. 

However, the game as a whole was marred with the announcement of the European Super League and J.W. Henry's betrayal of the English game. Fans of both Leeds United and Liverpool gathered outside the stadium to protest against the proposed Super League with banners and jeering when the Liverpool team bus arrived. The Leeds players even wore warm-up t-shirts, even offering them to the Liverpool players, which Jurgen Klopp was not a fan of - saying "they do not need to do this to remind us of the sentiment... my boys have done nothing wrong" (Sky Sports).  Klopp did essentially denounce the Super League, saying that his stance on such a league had not changed since he claimed it would be damaging for football back in 2019.

Klopp also claimed that the protests against Liverpool and the ESL would cause his players to want to win the game even more than usual, and in the first half, Liverpool looked to be doing just that as they came out the blocks very quickly and asserted their dominance on the game. Both teams were playing the way they normally do, building out from the back and plenty of passing when in possession and aggressive pressing when out of possession. Liverpool however, were just a step ahead of Leeds with their intense pressing and were helped out with Leeds' sloppy passing in the final third causing Liverpool to look to punish them on the counter. 

Liverpool's eventual and inevitable breakthrough came in the 29th minute when a long cross-field ball from Diogo Jota found the overlapping run of Trent Alexander-Arnold who had been causing Jack Harrison and Ezgjan Alioski problems all game. He beat Leeds 'keeper Meslier to the ball and laid the ball off for Sadio Mane for a simple tap in, his first Premier League goal in nine games. Leed's full-backs had moved inwards, with Ayling creating space on the right for Jota to get the pass off, and Alioski creating space for Trent to run into. 

Liverpool had more chances in the first half but lacked the necessary end product. Jota and Milner both missed the target after Liverpool's press was too much for Leeds' defence, and the Lilywhites' only chance of the half was a through ball for Bamford that was well dealt with by Alisson. 1-0 at half time and Liverpool looked very comfortable, with the defence - most notably Ozan Kabak - playing very well. 

The second half was a complete opposite, a real Jekyll and Hyde performance from both teams as Liverpool came out for the second 45 looking tired and uninspired whereas Leeds came out strong and quick, creating chance after chance; Bamford hitting the bar and Alisson making a very good save from a Tyler Roberts shot from close range, before they eventually got their deserved equaliser in the 84th minute - a Diego Llorente header from a corner. 

Liverpool created few chances after the interval, the best coming from a counter-attack which had Robertson, Jota and Firmino charging towards goal but Robbo's pass to Jota was terrible and went behind for a goal-kick. 

Leeds were by far the better team in the second half and reduced Liverpool to just 39% possession throughout the game, their lowest since 2017. Bielsa deserves credit for correcting the mistakes his team was making in the first half and not allowing Liverpool to play the way they were in the first portion of the game. 

Was the whole 'Super League' situation on the Liverpool players' mind during the game? Perhaps, but they are professionals that should be able to focus on the game in front of them and not on something to does not immediately concern them as their goal for this season is still to try and qualify for the Champions League, regardless of what competitions they will actually be playing next season, and they missed a great opportunity to get a hold of their own fate, especially after Everton, Spurs, and West Ham all dropped points on the weekend.

A disappointing draw for Liverpool, but not something we've learned to become familiar with this season. All credit to Leeds United, who as it stands are in the running to be playing in the Champions League this season.